Tonic self-produced their studio second album, which is entitled Sugar. Released on November 9, 1999, the album's title shared the same name as the fifth track on the recording. The creative and collaborative process spanned several geographic locations including Austin, Texas, and a 15,000 square foot mansion in New Orleans, Louisiana, where actual recording for the album was performed. Knock Down Walls and You Wanted More were charting singles released off the record, with the latter having first appeared on the soundtrack to the movie American Pie. With drummer Kevin Shepard was no longer part of the band, Peter Maloney played drums on the album, although Joey Waronker filled in for the single "You Wanted More". Sugar also marked Dan Lavery's first contribution to a Tonic studio album. Music videos for the songs "You Wanted More" and Mean to Me were created as part of the album's promotion. Tonic appeared on the television shows Late Night with Conan O'Brien and "The Martin Short Show" in late 1999 as part of additional promotion. Sugar spent eight total weeks on the Billboard 200 chart, reaching a peak of #81 in its first week of release.