SANTA MONICA, California -- A few days after finishing the third Tonic album, bassist Dan Lavery ran into an old friend in Los Angeles.

"I was basically telling him what was going on with the band and he said, 'Well, that's cool, man. It sounds like you got your head on straight.' "

Lavery smiled. Little did his friend know that Tonic had just decided on a title for their new album: Head on Straight.

And since then, after spending the summer on the road with Sheryl Crow and Train on the Jeep World Outside Tour, the title is even more appropriate. "The more we talk about the album, the more I feel it fits," Lavery said.

That's because, despite the disappointing sales of their second record, 1999's Sugar (see [article id="1434906"]"Tonic Flexes D.I.Y. Muscle For 'Sugar' Coated Album"[/article]), the members of Tonic are excited about their music careers.

Singer Emerson Hart, guitarist Jeff Russo and Lavery are aware of the challenge ahead of them -- reclaiming the success they had with 1997's Lemon Parade, which featured "If You Could Only See," the most played song of 1997 -- but they aren't letting it cloud their vision.

"The best you can do is love your own record," Lavery said. "That way if your fans don't like it, you know at least you do."

Tonic began writing Head on Straight, due Tuesday, while touring behind Sugar. Hart moved from Los Angeles to Nashville to finish the material, which touches on a variety of issues, including the struggle with their last album, specifically on "Come Rest Your Head."

"I think what we really wanted to go for was a solid, song-based record," Hart said. "And honesty in the music, [because] that's just how we are as people. No real concept, just as open and honest as possible.

"There's a few nods to what we went through on the last record on this record," he continued. "Being a writer is a reflector on things past and present. It was a real reflection of what we've been through and what's to come. We're just fortunate that we can do what we do."

Tonic wanted to punctuate the strong feelings in their album with potent guitars, so when it came time to record, they flew to Maui to work with veteran producer Bob Rock. Joey Waronker, who has recorded with Beck, Smashing Pumpkins and R.E.M., among others, played drums on the album.

"Working with Bob Rock, who is a guitar master of tone and gear, that lent itself to our record being a cohesive guitar record," Russo said. "He took everything inside of us that is the best we all do and brought it all out and made the whole thing cohesive."

"He magnified everything," Lavery added. "If it was a riff rock song, he made it huge. If it was sort of a pop song, he made it lush and beautiful."

Rock is also known for pulling straightforward lyrics out of songwriters, whether it's Metallica's James Hetfield or Our Lady Peace's Raine Maida (see [article id="1455221"]"Our Lady Peace Are Putty In Producer Bob Rock's Hands"[/article]). Hart was no exception.

"He is so focused on the song," Hart said. "He was always, 'Maybe this line could be better, more direct.' Overall, he pulled great vocal performances out of me and also really helped me hone what I wanted to say directly."

On "Take Me As I Am," the first single from Head on Straight, Hart reflects on how he was raised and on realizing "the sins of the father" as he enters a new relationship. It's about "using what you learned from your parents' mistakes to become a better person," he explained.

Several of the songs on the album, including the title track and the infectious "On Your Feet Again," are about letting things go and moving forward, or as Hart put it, "being a functioning human being."

For the latter, Hart brought the band a demo of him playing acoustic guitar and a cheap Casio keyboard. "Bob set up this cardboard box and had our drummer play a quick loop on it," Russo recalled. "He turned some knobs and made it sound cool."

Tonic will promote the album with a few dates in late September and a full tour later in the fall. Scheduled shows include September 24 at the Village Underground in New York, September 28 at the Big Day Out festival in Atlanta, and September 29 at the LRS Fest in Louisville, Kentucky.