BETTER THAN THE BEACH BOYS? We’ll see, but that’s what Wilson says. “There’s some Beach Boys influence, but this is a much better band.” Despite disputes with his cousin and original Beach Boy, Mike Love, none of the old songs are off-limits, Wilson says. Expect to hear 18 to 20 Beach Boys hits and all of the new album - even spoken interludes by Van Dyke Parks. Among the new tunes: a “Surfer Girl” sequel, “Forever You’ll Be My Surfer Girl.”

ANY GOOD DRUGS LATELY? Only his shrink knows for sure. But Wilson acknowledges his decades of therapy (including pharmacological) that gradually led him back to recording and performing live. Wilson withdrew from the limelight in 1968 with the cancellation of the Beach Boys’ “SMiLE” album and the birth of his first child. (“SMiLE” was finally released in 2004.) Wilson spent years in his bedroom, taking drugs and overeating. It wasn’t until 1985 that he was well enough to perform at Live Aid with the Beach Boys. He launched a solo career in 1988. Though the new album’s lyrics were written by Scott Bennett, Wilson says many of the songs are about his life. On “Going Home” he sings: “At 25 I turned out the light/’Cause I couldn’t handle the glare.”

ARE HIS DEMONS GONE? “Some of them are.” Pause. “Right,” he adds as if to reassure himself. That’s why, he says, it was important to return to that time - the early ’60s - when the Boys were young and his two brothers in the band, Carl and Dennis, were still alive. “The melodies,” Wilson says, “were inspired by that time in my life in SoCal.” Is there any chance he’ll be a Beach Boy again? “No,” Wilson says. End of story.