Teen-idols-all-grown-up The Backstreet Boys have clocked up worldwide sales of more than 100 million, so it's little surprise that band member Howie Dorough describes their latest album, This Is Us, as "reaching back into what made us who we are''.

And the band – Dorough, AJ McLean, Nick Carter and Brian Littrell – also turned to Swedish producer Max Martin to recreate the halcyon days when they dominated the US music charts and made inroads this side of the Atlantic, too.

Martin was behind the board for such classics as Everybody (Backstreet's Back), Larger Than Life, and Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely.

He had dinner with the group during their tour of Sweden last year and sensed that their passion for making music was greater than ever.

"He really saw the fire in our eyes," Littrell said. "It was like we were young kids again.

"If there was one producer I had to pick to join the Backstreet Boys, I'd pick Max. He understands us inside and out."

Band colleague McLean also believes the Boys have been an inspiration to others such as Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake.

He said: "When we first started the Euro sound wasn't really happening yet, but it led to Britney and 'N Sync and all those other people that came after us.

"Now music is going back in that same direction, with great pop songs that are just as rhythmic as they are melodic. That's what and who we are."

At the same time as being reunited with Martin, Backstreet Boys also opted collaborate with a number of produce-songwriters better known for their work in other genres.

T-Pain put his trademark sound on the sizzling slow jam, She's A Dream, while Claude Kelly – famed for writing such hits as Britney Spears' Circus and Kelly Clarkson's My Life Would Suck Without You – paired up with the team of Soulshock & Karlin (JoJo, Fantasia, Nelly) to produce two of the album's hottest tracks, Bye Bye Love and If I Knew Then.

"We really wanted to push the envelope with this record," Dorough went on. "We wanted to reach out to some writers that people wouldn't have expected us to reach out to."

Info

Backstreet Boys play LG Arena, Birmingham, on Sunday, November 8 as part of the venue's opening season following a major refurbishment. The Ticket Factory hotline number is 0844 338 8000 or visit:

www.lgarena.co.uk

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