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Backstreet Boys are back with new album, single and world tour

The Backstreet Boys are plotting their return with their 10th studio album 'DNA,' out January 25.
Credit: TOMMASO BODDI/AFP/Getty Images
(From L)Members of US band Backstreet Boys AJ McLean, Kevin Richardson, Nick Carter, Howie D and Brian Littrell pose as they arrive for the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards on April 2, 2017, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Backstreet's back, alright.

Six years, two newborns and one hit Las Vegas residency later, the Backstreet Boys are plotting their return with their 10th studio album "DNA," out January 25.

It's the pop group's first full-length effort since "In a World Like This" in 2013, in which time the guys have expanded their families, released a documentary (2015's "Show 'Em What You're Made Of") and charted their 18th song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart ("Don't Go Breaking My Heart," which peaked at No. 63 in July).

"After 25 years, to be played on the radio and get as much love as ("Heart") has gotten, is still overwhelming," says AJ McLean, who makes up one-fifth of the band with Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell and Howie Dorough. "We feel extremely blessed to know that the past 5-7 years of us doing everything we can to rebuild the brand and get us back to this place has definitely paid off. This (song) has really been setting things up perfectly and we're about to be off to the races soon."

First up, there's anthemic new single "Chances," out Friday. Co-written by Shawn Mendes and OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder, the gushy love song talks about the "two-in-a-million" chance you'll meet the love of your life in the most precarious, everyday scenario.

"You don't necessarily have to be set up on a date or go on a dating app to meet that special someone," McLean says. As illustrated in its dance-heavy music video, which the Boys co-directed and appear in, "you could literally miss your train and happen to lock eyes with this person, and just lose yourself in that moment and go to whatever lengths to actually be with that person."

"Chances" was one of the last songs that the group recorded for "DNA," which aims to go back to basics while pushing their sound forward in new and interesting ways. "Honey, I'm Good" singer Andy Grammer, Lauv (Charli XCX's "Boys") and Mike Sabath (Liam Payne & J Balvin's "Familiar") have writing credits on the album, which was gradually recorded over the past three years between Vegas, Los Angeles and Nashville.

The latter city informed the country/blues-rock feel of tracks such as "No Place," which is largely autobiographical.

"I've been all around the world, done all there is to do, but there's no place like home," says Richardson, 47. "That's a song that we were inspired by our families and children to make."

Backstreet's broods will travel with them for portions of their 69-date world tour, which marks their biggest arena trek in 18 years and kicks off its North American leg July 12 in Washington DC, following a two-month European run. Tickets for the tour, which lasts through mid-September, go on sale Nov. 14 at LiveNation.com and a full list of dates can be found on the band's official website.

Coming off their record-breaking "Larger Than Life" residency in Vegas, which wraps its two-and-a-half-year run next April, "we have to go big," McLean says. The show will have a live band, as opposed to dancers, and run 1½ to 2 hours. "You'll get to hear all the hits and probably half of the new record, with some little surprises sprinkled in as well. We just locked in the stage design recently and it's going to be mind-blowing."

2019 Backstreet Boys Tour Dates

JULY

12 Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.

15 Bell Centre, Montreal

17 ScotiaBank Arena, Toronto

20 Xcel Energy Center, Minneapolis

22 Bell MTS Place, Winnipeg

24 ScotiaBank Saddedome, Calgary

25 Rogers Place, Edmonton

27 Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena, Vancouver

29 Angels of the Winds Arena, Seattle, Washington

30 Moda Center, Portland, Oregon

AUGUST

1 Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California

3 Staples Center, Los Angeles

4 SAP Center, San Jose, California

5 Honda Center, Anaheim, California

7 Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah

8 Pepsi Center Arena, Denver, Colorado

10 United Center, Chicago

12 Little Caesars Arena, Detroit

14 TD Garden, Boston

15 Barclays Center, New York

17 Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia

18 Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania

20 PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina

21 State Farm Arena, Atlanta

23 BB&T Center, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

24 Amway Center, Orlando

26 Bridgestone Arena, Nashville

27 Fed Ex Forum, Memphis

28 BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma

30 Smoothie King Center, New Orleans

31 Toyota Center, Houston

SEPTEMBER

1 American Airlines Arena, Dallas

3 Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana

4 The Legacy Arena at the BJCC, Birmingham, Alabama

6 Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri

7 Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri

8 CHI Health Center, Omaha, Nebraska

10 Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

11 Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee

13 KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky

14 PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh

15 Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey

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