Given that yesterday’s articles paid homage to the great and the good of the rock’n’roll universe, it may surprise some readers to discover that I’m actually quite at peace with my inner teenage girl!  The real keenos amongst you will recall that a while back I posted an article lamenting the loss of the great vocal harmony groups of the 90s, and may have deduced that one or two of them will forever hold a special place in my mushy heart!

Those of you following Auriopia on Twitter may have also guessed that The Backstreet Boys are right at the top of that list.  My sister introduced me to their music when I was still at infant school, and they played a pretty big part in my musical education.  My sister and I would sit trying to sing their five-part harmonies with our two voices.  We actually got pretty good at it, too: and now that we’re both fully grown, the only real difference is that we do it at concerts instead!

A few months ago we saw the NKOTBSB gig in Liverpool together, but for all that it was a really fun evening and I loved seeing BSB, I never really got the New Kids thing… It was before my time!  I found myself missing Backstreet’s glory days, and wishing I’d seen them when they were a five-piece!

So when I discovered last night that all of them are back in the studio, cutting a new album in my home city, and working in collaboration with none other than Craig David, well… I may have let out a small squeal of excitement!

My first action was to share the news with my sister, who naturally, as a die-hard BSB fan for life, already knew the news!  The second thing I did was to share my excitement with you, my loyal readership on Twitter.  My street cred may have just taken several blows, but I stand by what I said about boybands and manbands in my previous article!

Frankly, what I’m hoping for is another masterclass vocal harmony album on a par with Boyz II Men’s Motown – Hitsville, USA – a reminder of why the old boys still do it best: an education in harmony for the likes of One Direction and JLS.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see, but for now, enjoy this reminder of just how good a vocal harmony group BSB really are!: