"After the arduous recording sessions for 2002's Busted Stuff, Dave Matthews Band made some big changes. The guys gutted their studio outside Charlottesville, Virginia, rebuilt it to state-of-the-art specifications and hired Eminem's producer to record the follow up.

Brooklyn-born multi-instrumentalist Mark Baston, who coproduced Eminemes "Mosh"? with Dr. Dre and has worked with 50 cent, the Game, and Gwen Stephani, brought a novel approach to recording the bands sixth studio album. In October when the band returned from the VFC tour, Batson hooked up with band members individually, getting ideas on tape. Songs emerged from the five members listening to eachothers riffs. " Most bands have one dude, maybe two dudes, who write everything. says Batson. "But all these guys are amazing musicians and they all have something interesting to say. If we were here for a few more months we could write over a hundred songs."

DMB has cut at least 25 songs for the still untitled album that is due out in may. The new studio which sits high above a small lake and bonuses a personal chef a bar and on this saturday night in january, a pitcher of magical mushroom tea in the fridge. "Theres something about this place, says bassist Stephan Lessard. "Its like a little home away from home."

"This album, says matthews, is about love, life, God, death and sex." Highlights include the supersonic funk jam "Stand Up" and "Old Dirt Hill", a sweet reflection of childhood, built around Boyd Tinsley's plucked violin. Lessard wrote the music for "Hunger for the Great Light" with lyrics about oral sex added by matthews who says, "That is our most overt 'fucking' song ever." "American Baby" opens with the sound of bombs dropping, but Matthews says it is meant to be optimistic: "This is a divide in this country. That song is hoping that the apple pie and lemonade, the baseball and sunny-day barbecues are not going to be replaced by a 'fuck'um all, and let God sort it out' vibe."

At around 11 pm twenty DMB employees gather around to listen to the tracks. Matthews sips red wine, Batson rolls fat joints and everyone cheers after their favorite songs. Cocktail hour streched into sunday morning and matthews joins a poker game in the garage. The album is pretty much done. "Theres a lot of songs that I really love that won't make the record." says Matthews. "There are some that appeal to others that I love a little less. Its a weird thing. But we wrote a lot of songs, and thats a good thing to complain about."