This is a pre-order item. Release date is July 21st

After a five year hiatus, Sugar Ray is back and better than ever. The Southern California-based band makes its long awaited return with Music For Cougars, an exuberant reiteration of the band's signature sound, with particular focus on songcraft and sonic invention. Music For Cougars sees this band of brothers operating at the very peak of its powers, with the skills, strengths, and smarts that only two decades together can provide. "I'm not going to say we made the best record of our career," beams singer Mark McGrath. "That's just so cliched. But we did!"

Since their 1995 Lemonade and Brownies debut, Sugar Ray became stuck in a biennial cycle of touring and recording, touring and recording. 1997's RIAA double platinum-certified sophomore effort, Floored, and its smash follow-up, 1999's triple platinum 14:59 were trailed by 2001's self-titled collection and 2003's In The Pursuit of Leisure. By the time of 2005's The Best of Sugar Ray, the band had well and truly earned a break.

By 2008, the band was itching to get back into the studio. In July, McGrath left Extra in order to devote more of his time to Sugar Ray. At the same time, the band's longtime friend, producer Josh Abraham (Velvet Revolver, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park), invited them to cut a new album for his just-launched label, Pulse Recordings. "All the stars lined up for us," Sheppard says. "We always said we would never force ourselves back on the public, but everything just fell together nicely. It was an opportunity for us to make some new music again so we grabbed it."

From the start, the project proved to be the most artistically free of the band's career. The sessions spanned close to a year, a leisurely process that enabled Sugar Ray to take their time crafting both songs and sonics. "Being the underdog again really frees up your creativity," McGrath explains. "We had so much fun making the record. There was no pressure. It was purely about the love of songwriting and getting into the studio."

From the get-go, Sugar Ray has gleefully traversed all musical boundaries, for no other reason than it tickled their artistic fancy. As ever, Music For Cougars sees the band ping-ponging though pop's innumerable permutations. Perhaps the album's most striking partnership is "Love Is The Answer," an original song gifted to the band by Weezer-honcho Rivers Cuomo. For their part, Sugar Ray consider themselves blessed to have the support of someone they see as "a huge hero," according to Sheppard. "We even wrote a song kind of in homage to Weezer, called 'Rivers' - it was on the Scream 2 soundtrack and now here we get to do a song with him." McGrath laughs, "I think it's him fucking with everybody, going, 'What's the one band no one would ever think I'd give a song to?'"

All comedy aside, Sugar Ray can claim credit for some of the most indelible pop hits of the previous decade, including the unforgettable No.1 smashes, "Fly" and "Every Morning." McGrath - who regularly wields ironic humility like a sawed-off shotgun - is justifiably proud of the band's body of work. "I'll be self-deprecating about myself and about the band," he says, "but we wrote some fucking amazing songs. We wrote songs that people fell in love to, that people got married to, that people had sex to for the first time. The songs became bigger than the band. They're the world's property now and we need to be humbled by that."

Sugar Ray are now getting set to take their songs on the road for their first full-scale tour in many a moon. Its myriad artistic successes aside, Music For Cougars allows the band to live up to its mission statement from the very beginning - to hang out together and make high-energy rock 'n' roll. "I definitely miss it," Sheppard says of the road. "Whether the album is successful or not, at least we're getting back out there again. That's what I'm excited about."

"We have no misconceptions about what this record may do," McGrath says. "It was strictly about making another record because we had great new material and the fact that we still enjoy playing together. This is my life's work. People say, 'You're still in the band?' This is what I do! I'm gonna be in Sugar Ray till I die! I've been lucky enough to fit a uniform, I'm gonna wear it till the wheels fall off!"

Sugar Ray's U.S. Tour Dates:

7/10 American Music Theatre Lancaster, PA
7/24 Dakota Magic Casino Hankinson, ND
7/25 Lake of the Torches Lac Du Flambea, WI
7/26 Lake of the Torches Chicago, IL
7/28 Emerald Theatre Detroit, MI
7/29 House of Blues Cleveland, OH
7/30 Bottle & Cork Dewey Beach, DE
7/31 Rams Head Live Baltimore, MD
8/01 Otsiningo Park Spiedie Fest Binghamton, NY
8/03 Northern Lights Clifton Park, NY
8/04 Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA
8/06 Columbus Park Stamford, CT
8/07 The Fillmore New York, NY
8/08 Tropicana Casino Atlantic City, NJ
8/10 The Norva Norfolk, VA
8/11 Amos' South End Charlotte, NC
8/12 Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA
8/14 Culture Room Fort Lauderdale, FL
8/15 Downtown Orlando Orlando, FL
8/16 Jannus Landing St. Petersburg, FL
8/18 Wildhorse Saloon Nashville, TN
8/19 House of Blues New Orleans, LA
8/21 La Zona Rosa Austin, TX
8/22 House of Blues Houston, TX
8/23 House of Blues Dallas, TX
8/24 Cains Ballroom Tulsa, OK
9/11 Showbox at the Market Seattle, WA
9/13 Humboldt State University Arcata, CA
9/14 Empire Events Center Sacramento, CA
9/15 Grand Ballroom San Francisco, CA
9/16 The Catalyst Santa Cruz, CA
9/18 Taste of Newport Newport Beach, CA
9/19 Pozo Saloon Santa Margarita, CA
9/20 Ventura Theater Ventura, CA
9/22 Rialto Theater Tucson, AZ
9/23 The Marquee Phoenix, AZ
9/24 House of Blues Las Vegas, NV
9/25 Hard Rock San Diego, CA
9/26 House of Blues Los Angeles, CA