Lawsuits. Record company turmoil. Gwen Stefani. A lot has gone on in the three years between Bush's last album, Razorblade Suitcase, and The Science of Things. Sean Plummer explains why, despite the delay, everything is still Zen.

Three years is an eternity in modern music. In an age when one-hit wonders dominate the charts for a couple of months before giving way to the next sensation -- when Britney Spears is followed by Christina Aguilera who is followed by Jessica Simpson -- three years is the lifespan of a dozen such acts. Three years is also the amount of time which has passed since Bush released an album. The English rock band that conquered America with their Pixies-inspired alt-rock debut Sixteen Stone continued the momentum with 1996's Razorblade Suitcase. DJs embraced the post-punk guitar squall of the English quartet of singer-songwriter-guitarist Gavin Rossdale, guitarist Nigel Pulsford, bassist Dave Parsons, and drummer Robin Goodridge. They made hits out of songs like 'Everything's Zen', 'Glycerine', 'Machinehead', 'Cold Contagious', and 'Greedy Fly', making them rock radio staples. Constant touring, press interviews and heavy rotation videos featuring heartthrob Rossdale, No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani's paramour of the last few years, made Bush into stars.

That they deserved the time off was never in doubt. That they wanted as much time as they got was another matter. Communications between Bush and their label, Trauma Records, broke down and the label sued their strr act this past March for $40 million, claiming non-delivery of the new album. The lawyers were called in and the suit has now been settled, with Bush garnering a lucrative new contract as a result. 'The Chemicals Between Us', the album's first single, is a radio hit.

With the lawsuit settled and the album completed, Gavin Rossdale is relaxed and good-humoured the afternoon we meet. We discuss the making of Bush's new album, The Science of Things, the lawsuit that delayed its release, their Woodstock '99 experience, and the Nirvana comparisons which dogged the early part of their career.

How was Woodstock?

Gavin: Woodstock was really good fun. The press was all focused on the fires on the third night. We headlined the first night, and it was really, really good. We had a really good crowd. There were a lot of topless people, a lot of kissing, a lot of making out. Perfect.

This album was delayed due to the lawsuit Trauma Records filed against the band. What was the heart of the disagreement?

Gavin: Without getting into too much, it was just a disagreement over what we thought we should get and what they wanted to give. Simple stuff. And as soon as we began a dialogue it was fine. What happned was for a year we didn't speak to each other. It was dumb. It was a good lesson in communication.

What did you do on your time off?

Gavin: I really didn't have that much time off. I took some longer holidays. I went to the Caribbean for the first time. But there really didn't seem to be a lot of time. A lot of the time off was spent preparing legal stuff, really kind of draining, soul destroying stuff. So I've been travelling a ways, been around, seeing this girl here and there [a smirking allusion to Stefani].

I understand that you wrote the record in Ireland by yourself. How was that?

Gavin: Good. Focused, clear, pretty hard sometimes but overall most enjoyable. Pretty self-confrontational. I had to get a lot of things together and be kind of disciplined. There was nothing else to do, which was the idea, so it was liberating in that sense.

Was there any concern about the time that's elapsed between records?

Gavin: No, because we have made good records. If you've had one single three years ago that was massive then you'd be nervous but we're still all over the radio. It's unbelievable how much they play our stuff all the time in Canada, in North America. No, it didn't feel so bad. The only thing that would really [make us angry] is coming out here and being aware of a whole bunch of new material and still hearing 'Machinehead' or 'Greedy Fly' or 'Cold Contagious'. So those days are over.

You've outlived the Nirvana comparisons which plagued you at first. How do you look back on those comparisons now that grunge is dead?

Gavin: It's sort of understandable because people need to whittle things down to a few sentences. But it was only because the lyrics were pretty isolationist and the music had generic Pixies elements. Basically both us and Nirvana really loved The Pixies, and I was never shy in saying that that was part of it. If you make classical music, if you're a painter, if you're a draftsman, if you're an architect, everybody draws on the past, everybody uses tradition as a way of moving forward. And for some reason, because of poor Kurt shooting himself, it was like that was where you couldn't go. But there were elements of just trying to be a bit like The Pixies, really, and I stand firm on that. And elements of Nirvana. I remember when I confronted [Nirvana drummer] Dave Grohl because he had had a problem with us for awhile, and I was saying to him 'What was so bad about other bands being inspired by what you do? We never stole stuff, we never tried to imitate. We just were inspired by it and you should be proud that certain people get inspired by what you do. Or is that totally against everything you like?', which he didn't have a reply for.