Candlebox rode the wave that came out of the ’90s Seattle scene thanks to megahits “Far Behind” and “You” off of their self-titled 1993 debut (which is now quadruple platinum!). However, over time, band founder and frontman Kevin Martin matured the group’s sound, which is quite evident on brand new release “Disappearing in Airports.”

Produced by Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland at Think Loud Studios in York, Pa., the sixth offering from Candlebox, which dropped April 22 via new label Pavement Entertainment, is more mainstream modern rock than previous efforts - but still very much guitar-driven. Joining Martin this time around is drummer Dave Krusen, bassist Adam Kury and guitarists Mike Leslie and Brian Quinn.

Often referred to as a “post-grunge” act, Candlebox’s “Disappearing in Airports” has more in common with a band like Matchbox Twenty (especially on album opener “Only Because of You”) than any of their ’90s peers. Lyrically, though, the new tunes very much reflect current times as politically and socially charged tracks sit alongside lighter fare. Social media entitlement is covered in first single “Vexatious.” The American gun  epidemic is tackled in “I’ve Got a Gun.” “Alive at Last” is about people struggling with issues that are destroying them physically and/or mentally. And “God’s Gift,” well, that’s about none other than the narcissistic Kanye West.

Martin is very excited for people to hear “Disappearing in Airports.” “This is the first record that I’ve actually listened to every day since it’s been done, since November, which is weird for me because I’ve never been able to listen to a Candlebox record more than once or twice and, maybe, a couple of weeks later I’ll listen to it again, but there is something special about this record,” he said during an exclusive interview with HNGN days before the album’s release. “So I’m hoping that this is as positive for everybody else as it is for me.”

Creating this album allowed Martin, who is now based in Los Angeles, to fully express himself in a way that he has not been able to before. Read on to find out how and why...

When did you start writing “Disappearing in Airports”?
We actually had about three or four songs in pretty good working order last year, the year before that. Adam, Dave and I used to get together once a month on Mondays and tried to write two to three songs a day. We had a bunch of stuff, but we never really revisited it. When it got time to gear things up for this record, I went through that stuff, there were about 10 pieces, and I sent them off to [producers] Carson and Grant to listen to, and they picked three of the songs. Then, Mike and I had written a couple in March of last year, acoustically, not lyrically, just kind of structure-wise. So, really, everything was done in the studio, surprisingly and rather quickly. I was shocked to see how quickly we were able to put songs together.

So, even though you released five albums before this one, you are still surprised that you can put one together?
Yeah, well, the last five records weren’t easy to do. The first record, of course, you have your whole life to write. We had worked on those songs for a year before we got into the studio to record that album. But “Lucy” and “Happy Pills” and “Sun” and “Love Stories” - those were all hard processes. A lot of musicians that I have worked with in my life are perfectionists and tend to worry more about the part then the song. And, in this process, these guys were all about the song entirely - it wasn’t about what they were playing or how they were playing it. It was what’s going to make the song best - and that really surprised me because I never worked that way. I never had that much freedom making an album with guys that were on the same page as I was.

Speaking of the band, Candlebox has changed members a couple of times. Are you happy with the new lineup?
I love everybody I’ve worked with. Scott [Mercado], Pete [Klett] and Bardi [Martin] are fantastic friends of mine and I love them to death as brothers, but I think the working relationship with this band is far easier, and I think, maybe, it’s because we’re all cut from the same cloth where there’s a punk rock mentality to what we do. Even as friends, everything is just kind of off the cuff, a lot of smart-ass remarks. There’s no real ego. That’s not to say that Bardi and Pete are egomaniacal or anything - they just are perfectionists and that can be difficult in the studio where I am the singer and the lyricist and I’m not a perfectionist. I’m all about the song. It’s just a different world. It’s a different type of experience as a musician.

This album is lighter than your earlier ones. Was that a conscious decision?
Yeah, well, I’m not really a heavy rock guy. I love popular music. The National, Arcade Fire and stuff like that, I’m a huge fan of. I’m never really the guy that wants to write the big metal song - that wasn’t really my thing. I grew up on punk rock music. The Sex Pistols sense of melody, even though people would never say it’s popular music, they use pop chords in their songs, and I like that about that type of punk rock. The Ramones, it’s all major chords and all very light. Even though some of the subject matter can be construed as dark, they always had a sense of humor about what they were doing. I think that, in Candlebox, a lot of times people think we’ve taken ourselves too serious. There are serious subject matter in our songs, but there’s also a sense of “I’m not the end all, be all. I’m just here.” And that’s the kind of music I want to write. This is a record that I want to reach an entirely different audience. I have that core fan base that I’ve had since ’93/’94, and there are more people out there that I want to hear the band - and that was conscious.

The first single is “Vexatious.”
The song was inspired by life that we all see on a daily basis - the constant selfies and people living through their phones rather than communicating [in person]. You go to dinner and everybody’s on their phone. You go to lunch and everybody’s on their phone. You go to work and everybody’s on their phone. We’ve just become so desensitized to who we are as human beings. I was in Bali last summer with my wife and my son on vacation, and there was a young girl there [who] had a full face of makeup and her hair all done, and the sun’s setting, and there’s probably 500 people at the beach, just relaxing and having cocktails, and all she’s doing is taking selfies. I was so perplexed by how somebody could be so oblivious to everyone around them, their surroundings, the beauty of this planet that we live on and the sun setting in this gorgeous place. I was like, “It’s just so vexating. This person is constantly causing this irritant, which they don’t even realize.” And, of course, you’ve got the rappers and the pop stars that go back-and-forth on Twitter because they feel that everything that comes out of their mouth is important and they feel entitled. As a society, we all tend to feel entitled now. I wanted to write a song about it, and the video represents that person looking for someone to pay attention to them. “I’m here. I’m alive. Look around, see what’s going on in front of you.” The letting go of the balloons is letting go of that kind of being chained to this society of dumb phones.

How does this affect you as a band since you need to have an active social media presence in order to help promote you?
Yeah, again, it’s that necessary evil. Social media is something that you have to embrace nowadays. I remember when Candlebox first started, there weren’t cell phones and, if there was a cell phone, it was $1,000 a week just to use the damn thing. You just have to take time to stop, and put it down, and be in the moment, and that’s what we do. There are times when you won’t find us on our phones. We have this thing that, when we go to dinner as a band, everybody puts their phones in the middle of the table, and the first person to grab their phone is the one that’s going to pay the bill. We’re here to be with one another and enjoy one another’s company and talk about life, and that’s sometimes what you have to do - you have to disconnect. So it’s difficult.

The song “I’ve Got a Gun” has a strong message.
Well, we were writing the song in the studio, and I had just been inundated with gun death after gun death after gun death - just reading about this careless world that we live in where people abuse weapons. I was like, “When is this going to stop? Is it ever going to stop? Why as a country, as free as we are, we can’t figure out a way to protect the people who choose not to have guns?” It’s a Second Amendment right, of course. I’m not the person that’s going to tell you that you can’t own a weapon - that’s your right. But I am also a First Amendment believer, and I have a right to say something about that, and I choose not to have guns. It was Carson and Grant’s idea to write it from the Second Amendment rights holder’s perspective of “you’re trying to take these from me and I’m angry about it and I’m going to voice it.” Even though I don’t have an answer, I have a belief, and this argument of “you’re trying to take things away from me” makes perfect sense... and that’s what the perspective of the song is written from. And I’ve alienated quite a few fans so far with that song, but if you’re not pissing people off, you’re not doing your job and you’re not doing it the right way. I’m a very political person, and I firmly believe we, as country, need to stand up for one another and need to protect one another, and that means those rights need to be protected. We just got to figure out a way to make sure that everybody is protected from people that are medically inept that shouldn’t be allowed to get these weapons and parents who don’t teach their children how to respect them.

And then there’s “God’s Gift,” which is all about the egotistical Kanye West.
He’s a total waste of air space. It’s funny because the lyrics and the chorus are all either things that he’s said about himself or titles of his songs. Everyone just feels that they’ve got to blow smoke up his ass, and I just don’t see the value to his music or to him as a human being. I don’t see him doing anything beneficial for anyone other than himself. I just think that, as a society, you’ve got to stop breeding that ignorance. There are other artists, rappers out there… Nas is a perfect example of one of the greatest rappers in the history of rap music and you don’t hear him spouting out the kind of s--t that comes out of Kanye’s mouth and he’s just as respected. I just don’t understand.

Are you ready for him to come after you?
I would love that. He doesn’t even know who I am and, even if he did, he probably would not even give two s--ts about what I have to say. This is a guy who’s asking for money from Mark Zuckerberg for Christ’s sake!

Have you picked a second single yet?
We’re feeling “Supernova.” Everybody’s loving that song, they love how it moves. It’s got that great disco-funk feel to it. We wrote it [in the vein of] the Rolling Stones’ “Emotional Rescue” with KISS’ “I Was Made for Loving You” - it felt like that great, sexy funk that nobody really wants to talk about. I thought combining two of my favorite bands into one atmosphere would be interesting.

CANDLEBOX TOUR DATES
April 26: Clear Channel Metroplex Event Center in Little Rock, Ark.
April 27: Live Oaks Bar and Ballroom in Monroe, La.
April 28: Varsity Theatre in Baton Rouge, La.
April 29: Club La Vela in Panama City Beach, Fla.
April 30: Welcome To Rockville in Jacksonville, Fla.
May 3: Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis, Md.
May 5: 12th and Porter in Nashville, Tenn.
May 6: Carolina Rebellion in Charlotte, N.C.
May 7: Adelphia Music Hall in Marietta, Ohio
May 19: Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethlehem, Penn.
May 21: Jergels Rhythm Grill in Warrendale, Penn.
May 28: Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn.
June 12: St. Joseph 4H Fairgrounds in South Bend, Ind.
June 14: Planet Live Music Factory in Battle Creek, Mich.
June 16: Mystique Casino in Dubuque, Iowa
June 17: Crusen’s in Peoria, Ill.
June 21: George’s Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville, Ark.
June 22: Two Frogs Grill in Ardmore, Okla.
July 9: Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Mo.
Aug. 6: Timberwood Amphitheater in Hot Springs, Ark.

For more on Candlebox, visit the band’s official website, Facebook or Twitter.