With his band basking in the glow of the rock 'n' roll limelight, Art Alexakis, the 36-year-old singer, guitarist and producer for the punk trio Everclear, isn't resting on his laurels. He's still taking chances, and, he said recently, his first solo album might wind up reflecting that.

"You'd be really surprised, or happy, or angry, with this album," Alexakis said. "The hard-core-rock kids might not get it."

For the still-untitled solo project, which could be released as early as this fall, Alexakis said he was looking back to the pop of the late 1970s -- complete with string arrangements, lush keyboards and vocal overdubs -- for inspiration. He called his effort "more mature, more soulful" than anything he's done in the past. Even the name is more mature: Alexakis said he plans to release the album under the name Arthur.

Alexakis and a group of Everclear session veterans, including Davey Lopinzi on bass and James Beaton on keyboards, began recording the album last year with co-producer Lars Fox in Everclear's home base of Portland, Ore.

Among the new tracks already recorded is "The Annabella Song," which Alexakis wrote for his 6-year-old daughter. He described its orchestral sound as a cross between a Frank Sinatra ballad and the fast-paced arrangements in the score to the 1939 film classic "The Wizard of Oz."

Darren Lewis, Everclear's manager, said the solo record is something Alexakis has wanted to put together for at least a year and a half.

"A lot of the music is still in his head," Lewis said. "But he just knew that this was the next thing he wanted to do artistically."

Lewis said the buying public should anticipate a product similar to "Overwhelming," Alexakis' melodic-rock contribution to the soundtrack for "Permanent Midnight." The Ben Stiller film depicts the life of Jerry Stahl, a successful television writer in the 1980s who battled heroin addiction on his way to success. Alexakis himself is a recovering heroin addict.

"Overwhelming" is, in some respects, the antithesis of its title. It's highlighted by acoustic guitar, strings and harmony background vocals, wrapped around a front-and-center vocal track.

At least temporarily, Alexakis' progress as a solo artist has taken a back seat to Everclear's success. The album project is on hold while Everclear prepares to headline the Levi's Sno-Core Tour '99, which begins Feb. 2 in San Francisco.

Alexakis, a one-time film student with ambitions to write movie scripts, said the band has been "itching to play" since the end of its last tour in June. The tour package also includes techno-wizard DJ Spooky, straightforward-rapper Redman and studio-rockers Soul Coughing.

The tour comes as Everclear's So Much for the Afterglow continues to sell well behind the radio staple "Father of Mine" and the LP's newest single, "One Hit Wonder" (RealAudio excerpt).

Everclear broke into the mainstream in 1995 with the success of the single "Santa Monica," from the album Sparkle and Fade.

As a result, Alexakis' schedule has been altered to give everyone breathing room.

"We've charting higher than we've ever been as a band," the guitarist/songwriter said. "You gotta give people time for a break."

The band might begin recording its follow-up to Afterglow this summer. Alexakis said that the next Everclear release, in contrast to his solo undertaking, would be "loud, aggressive. It's just crazy, man."

But coming from a career punk-rocker, the solo album won't be entirely lacking in snarl.

"I can't keep that out of my music completely. I mean, I just like to rock out too much," Alexakis said.