Band: Backstreet Boys
Album: DNA
Genre: Pop
Country: USA
Release date: 25th of January, 2019
Released via RCA Records

When I first began considering to start a blog, the initial idea was to listen to one album per day and write short posts about these albums in the evening. Thus, I would have been able to receive a huge amount of musical input. Eventually, as you can see, I dropped this idea. This happened predominantly due to the fact that the recipe listen-think-write-repeat would first of all drastically cut the “think” part and secondly just serve as another turbo-capitalist way to consume music. The next idea that came up was to start writing about music or music genres I did not know about in order to broaden my musical taste (the idea that TRANSCEND is now following). That point was somewhen in November ’18 and, as a matter of fact, the release date of DNA by the Backstreet Boys was already publicized. Hence, it was very clear that, when this album comes out, I will definitely write about it as ultimate sign of dedication. And here we are! Although I am a kid of the 90s, I did not have a lot contact with the Backstreet Boys. Having experienced music TV channels in Germany, though, I surely knew their singles that were broadcasted. The major contact I had was the awareness of my sister once driving to one of their concerts with my cousin (who later on deliberately forgot this event).

The Backstreet Boys are a quintet from Orlando, Florida and is probably well-known by almost every reader that is older than 25. The vocal group is one of the most famous groups worldwide and is the most successful boyband of all time. Their latest and ninth album DNA, spinning for 12 tracks and 39:18 minutes is the follow-up of their 2013 release In A World Like This, thus also marking the longest period between two albums with six years. Sorry to say – but there are so many producers involved on this album that it was difficult to point out the most important ones. It was already in 2015 when the band began mentioning that they were working on new music. It took some more time when eventually in May 2017 the first lead single “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” preceded the album, simultaneously stating that there was new music about to come.

This track also serves as the opener for he album and if you did not notice by the cover of their release or by the fact that the video for this song shows an overdose of neon lights – we arrived back in the 80s. This first track begins just as you expect a Backstreet Boys album to begin – calm and smooth. However, it becomes evident that the production plays with a certain 80s sound combining nice drums with synthis on this track already. This sound stretches through the entire album and adds a new flavor to the boygroup’s music.

Another feature that is highlighted throughout the album is the use of a capella sections, finding its peak on the track “Breathe” that avoids instruments entirely. This track puts a huge emphasis on the voices of the band and is quite enjoyable, although the song structure is a little repetitive. In this track, however, it actually is quite tricky to distinguish between the different singers. At some point, my notes say “Does Nick sing the entire song?” because I cannot hear any clear differences. Of course, this is no solo act, but the mixing conveys the attempt to blend all the voices into one (this also happens at other points of the album).

With the following two tracks, we arrive at the potential selection of the best tracks on this album. “New Love” is the first faster and catchier track on the album. To a certain extent, this is reminiscent of the 90s Backstreet Boys and on the other hand we get a fresh new sound with a decent beat and a repetitive “aw yeah” sample that will stick on your mind for some time. The chorus is, similar to all of the tracks on the album, extremely catchy and highlights the voices of the band. The track “Passionate” contains another chorus that will haunt you for several days – again highlighting that a capella sound that is also very present on this album. Add some flavor with funky guitars and nice synthis and you get the recipe for this track. The combination of those two tracks with the decent sound of the preceding gets you quinte interested in what is gonna come next.

Unfortunately, the expectation of tracks like these is not fulfilled when proceeding further into the album. With tracks like “Is It Just Me?” or “Chances” we get a huge load of similar sounding words. Don’t get me wrong, most of them are quite ok and you can clearly listen through the album – but after having heard tracks like “Passionate”, we expect some more than that. With “Chateau” we are glad to get another 90s-ish sounding BSB track that is (probably) something for the older audience. I am not going further into detail with the extremely weird lyrics of “Just Like You Like It”, but the final track “OK” can be added to those two significant tracks mentioned above. Right from the start it sounds as if this track was taken from The Lion King and differs a lot from the rest on this album and what we know from the Backstreet Boys. It is a very decent track, though, that is worth a try.

The new sound that was created by adding 80s drums and synthis to the voices of the Backstreet Boys really supports the production of a fresh new album. The sounds surely follow the raise-sales-recipe we all have in mind when thinking about major label distribution in the size of a Backstreet Boys album. However – we need to remember that Pop music is the conservative politics of the music business. Unfortunately, we have a larger amount of tracks that sound extremely similar, which slightly takes the wind out of the sails of this album. The producers of course take a look around before going into the production of an album for a group like BSB. Nevertheless – even though I have never been a Backstreet Boys fan at all – I am pretty sure that old BSB and pop fans will be happy with what they can get from this album.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

6/10

What about you? Were you even interested in this album? Without my blog I would have never written about that and I probably would have never listened to the album, either. However – I’m quite happy that this blog does what it is supposed to. It surprises you as soon as you open up for the positive sides of music. If you think differently – tell me in the comments!