THE BACKSTREETBOYS: Gear Up For New Album [New Official Bio]

For more than 16
years, Backstreet Boys have delivered the very finest pop music has to
offer – tightly crafted songs, floor-shaking rhythms, and unmistakable
harmonies. The new “THIS IS US” showcases their preeminent pop mastery
with a collection of indelible tracks that surely rank among their
biggest and best hits. After mastering an organic, more adult
contemporary flavor on 2005’s “NEVER GONE” and 2007’s “UNBREAKABLE,”
the new album sees Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, and AJ
McLean revisiting the groundbreaking dance-pop sound that first made
them international superstars. Songs like “PDA” “Bye Bye Love,” and the
RedOne-produced first single, “Straight Through My Heart” are classic
BSB, bursting with big hooks, unforgettable melodies, and high-energy
rhythms that both highlights the group’s classic sound and vision while
also placing it squarely in the here and now.

“This record
here,” says Howie Dorough, “we reached back into what made us who we
are – that’s great pop melodies, great harmonies – and made it current
and relevant.”

“We made a conscious effort to go back to being
ourselves,” notes Brian Littrell. “It’s important for the fans to
remember what was, but it’s also important for them to know where we’re
headed.”

One of the most successful groups in music history,
with countless #1s, record-setting tours, and worldwide sales in excess
of 100 million, Backstreet Boys are also among pop’s most influential.
Turn on the radio and you’re certain to hear massive melodies melded
with Eurodance grooves, a modern pop style inextricably rooted in the
group’s innovative approach.

“When we first started,” says AJ
McLean, “the Euro sound wasn’t really happening yet, but it led to
Britney and ‘N Sync and all those other people that came after us. Now
music is going back in that same direction, with great pop songs that
are just as rhythmic as they are melodic. That’s what and who we are.”

The
“THIS IS US” sessions kicked off in April 2008, while the group – a
quartet since 2006, when founding member Kevin Richardson left to start
a family – was still in the midst of the “UNBREAKABLE” world tour.
Backstreet Boys took a short pause in the itinerary and teamed with
producer Ryan Tedder (of OneRepublic fame) in a Manchester, England
studio to record what would become the album’s closing track, “Undone.”
The Boys were fighting fit from having been on the road and as a
result, the song crackles with the same electricity the group puts out
on stage every night.

“This was the very first time we were
recording while we were touring another record,” Littrell says. “We’ve
always taken a year or so off to really get out of touring mode, but
this time we wanted to try and get that energy from our live show onto
the record.”

Almost immediately upon the tour’s conclusion,
Backstreet Boys resumed recording at L.A.’s Conway Studios – “one of
the most chill places to record,” according to McLean.  To truly put
their own creative stamp on the album, the group personally reached out
to some of their very favorite producers and songwriters, just about
all of whom were thrilled for the chance to work with the Boys.