I’m pretty sure most of their original fan base is in college by now (if not married with children), but that’s not stopping the Backstreet Boys from reuniting and turning out a sixth album. (Their new single “Inconsolable” hits radios this month.) But, don’t expect the popular group to sound exactly as they did on their last CD.
The boy band’s latest release is missing a critical voice—band member Kevin Richardson decided not to rejoin the group because of family issues. (Richardson’s wife gave birth to a son last month.)
According to band member Nick Carter, Richardson’s announcement “came as a shock,” but “everyone understood” and there were no hard feelings. “That’s just the way it needs to be,” Carter told reporters. “We’ve been through a lot in 14 years together, and there’s no need to get angry or overly emotional.”
Richardson may be sitting this one out, but for Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and AJ McClean – things are moving full steam ahead. According to the group, the as-yet untitled new album features the usual Backstreet Boys fare, including dance tracks, pop- rock songs, ballads and R&B vocals.
The “boys” say they used life experiences that occurred during their hiatus as inspiration for their new album. For Carter that includes a dramatic weight loss. He took off more than 40 pounds recently by working out one hour a day, five days a week for six months to slim down from 223 pounds. Meanwhile, Howie D, used the time off to work on his first solo album. “A kind of Latin/English thing,” says Dorough, who just recorded nine demo songs with Jon Secada in Miami. “It’s kind of Spanglish, kind of Latin with a little bit of a samba vibe.” Brian Littrell did the same. Only his first solo effort was a Christian album.
As for the new “Backstreet” album, Carter says it is “definitely going to be a little different when there’s only four of us, but the door’s always open for Kevin whenever he wants to come back.”
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