Listen: Backstreet Boys' "Chateau"

Backstreet's Back, and it's real. Making their return after a six year hiatus, the quintessential 90's pop boy band find themselves at the centre of mainstream music scene once again, possibly even staring at a real chance of scoring a big hit in a long, long time. Retaining their old DNA at the same time exploring contemporary sounds that would turn One Direction green with envy, the ninth album is a predictable, yet slickly produced effort, revisiting the group's penchant for pleasant harmonies and uptempo beats in an all new package. It's inoffensive pop (Chateau's subtle trap beats are a clincher!), as it was back then, but in 2019 it comes as a refreshing departure from the gluttony of over-sexualisation that pervades mainstream pop/rap. (It's worth noting here that Nick Carter was accused of raping Melissa Schuman back in 2002, but the case was ultimately dropped after the statue of limitations had passed.) To dismiss their new album as stuck in some sort of a time warp, as mere nostalgia, is to miss the point.