Backstreet Boys don’t want to be a nostalgia band.
The 90s group – made up of AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell – recently released their first single since 2013, ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’, and Howie has opened up about aiming to push forward and wanting to make new songs which stand the test of time like their back catalogue, which includes the hit songs ‘I Want It That Way, ‘Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely’ and ‘Everybody’.
He said: "I think it would be very easy for us to turn ourselves into a nostalgic band.
"Our biggest hits are what the majority of the fans want to hear when they come to our show because of the memories attached to them, but we always try never to settle.
"We want to make a concert that people want to see, pushing ourselves physically so the new songs in our concerts stand up alongside the favourites. We’re not just living in the past."
The 44-year-old singer says that the key to their success is that they have a always maintained their "signature sound", whilst describing the new track as "throwback" and like a soundtrack for the hit Netflix series ‘Stranger Things’.
He explained: "We’re always trying to keep things familiar for the fans.
"It’s important to have a signature sound, and we’ve got those harmonies.
"To me it sounds like a song that could be in ‘Stranger Things’, it’s got that throwback sound from the late ’80s/’90s that’s come back around."
Howie also admits that their longevity is down to the fact they have remained close, comparing his bond with his bandmates to a "marriage".
He told the Official Charts Company: "It’s because we really like each other, believe it or not.
"It’s like a marriage, we have our ups and downs, our moments. But just like every marriage you talk it out, you communicate. We all want to win, so we strive to keep making good music."
The ‘I Want It That Way’ hitmakers have just inked a new deal with RCA Records, and will release their ninth studio album later this year.
Backstreet Boys don’t want to be a ‘nostalgia band’
