Hot Hot Heat Cure a Broken Heart With 'Happiness'

For Hot Hot Heat frontman Steve Bays, 'Happiness LTD,' the title of the band's forthcoming album, is bittersweet. Following the release of their last album, 2005's 'Elevator,' Bays suffered a broken heart after splitting from his girlfriend of three years. "That sent me on a tailspin of self-destructive behavior," he tells Spinner. "[I was] just trying to figure out who I was and what I wanted. It changed my view on the world, and without getting into too many specifics, I went through a bit of an identity crisis. At the end of the tunnel, I came out a lot more satisfied. It taught me how much I do rely on music for satisfaction."

Lest fans worry the album will be a mope-y dirge on lost love, Bays says the album rocks hard in places, including 'My Best Fiends,' which he describes as "Adam Ant meets Zeppelin.": Another Bays favorite is 'Outta Heart.' "[It's] almost like Flaming Lips, Pixies-ish," he explains. "That song is so layered -- there's a full orchestra playing over it. It's probably the most non-Hot Hot Heat song on the album, but it's beautiful."

Heat incorporated a myriad of influences on the record, including Sufjan Stevens, who inspired 'Let Me In.' "I'll get really obsessed with someone for like a week and a song will come out of it at the end," Bays says. "It was after pretty much only listening to [Sufjan] nonstop for a week. And the song sounds absolutely nothing like him -- it couldn't be further from that."

Bays credits in part Stevens and Devotchka -- both of whom he became enamored with after seeing 'Little Miss Sunshine' -- for renewing his love affair with music. "When I work at figuring out how to become musically inspired again, it's almost like I'm high," he says. "It's all I can think about. I can't sleep at night and first thing in the morning, I wake up and I pick up my guitar. I've just realized that is what brings me the most happiness."