Chris Collingwood Archives

Fountains of Wayne had cultivated a hardcore power-pop following before hitting the teenybopper set in 2003 with “Stacy’s Mom,” from its smash third album, “Welcome Interstate Managers.”

It was the old double-edged sword, as it drew a new crowd of fickle fans while turning off some of the fan base.

Those fans have no reason not to return for “Sky Full of Holes,” a fifth album that frames the smart, narrative songwriting or Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger in a more relaxed Americana setting. The band’s jokier side is balanced with heavier hitters such as “The Summer Place,” about addiction, and the set-closing “Cemetery Guns,” a mournful ballad about a war widow.

The album was recorded in New York City, and by the way Mr. Collingwood describes it, the going was a little rough.

The sound of this record is very organic. I even saw it compared to the Jayhawks. How did you arrive at that sound?

It’s funny you use that word because the one discussion Adam and I had before we started involved exactly that word: Organic. I’m not a fan of synthesizer sounds. I guess I am in moderation, but I think any time you layer your record with too many synthesizers, it can come off kind of dated very quickly. My favorite records are the ones that don’t wear out, like “Imperial Bedroom” by Elvis Costello and, of course, the Beatles records.

Did you enjoy making the record with this approach?

I love the way it came out. I was actually the hardest record we ever made, just because we fought so much when we were recording it. I did not have a good time making it.

What were you fighting about?

Lots of different things. We butt heads over everything, actually, from what the record is going to sound like, to the song selection. But I like the way it sounds. It sounds more like the way we write songs, kind of sitting around on acoustic guitar. I think the goal of any record is that a song stands on its own no matter how you arrange it.

The songs are a series of sketches — people in the midst of various struggles. Were you tapping into the general vibe?

Not consciously, I don’t think. I think stories and characters resonate with people more than talking in gigantic abstract terms. From the beginning of time that’s how people got their stories across, by telling stories. I read a lot of fiction, so it’s sort of a natural inclination to work that way.

Was there anything in particular that inspired “Cemetery Guns”?

No, basically, a journalist asked us if we ever felt the need to address social problems in our music. It occurred to me, “Why had I never thought to do that before?” We spent so much time making jokes throughout the ’90s. You know, I’m getting older and it seemed like, “Why not write about something that I think about and that moves me in my daily life?’ I think that song is a better indicator of what I spend my time thinking about than “Leave the Biker” or “Stacy’s Mom.”

I guess when you do pop music you want to sound upbeat.

That’s one of the ways in which Adam and I are a little different. I think that, at all costs, he wants his music to be upbeat and I tend to be all over the map. I don’t mind something sad or mopey.

How has “Stacy’s Mom” affected the band over the long haul. I guess those Top 40 fans have faded away. How did it impact your fan base?

I think a lot of people who liked that song are the kind of people who like whatever’s on the radio. A lot of the fans of that song aren’t necessarily fans of the band. Most of them don’t even know who band is. I do spend a lot of time wondering what our career would have been like if we hadn’t had that song. I think in a lot of ways it damaged our standing with people who are serious music fans. On the other hand, there are people who heard about us that never would have.

You didn’t feel the need to follow that or try to create another hit?

I think an attempt to re-create that is a little bit pathetic. That song was a moment in time and the novelty aspect of it was, it gripped a moment in time when the “American Pie” movies were happening. It’s so not indicative of the rest of our catalog. It really does stand out as a kind of phantom whim or something.