Backstreet Boys 'Breathe': New Song From 'In A World Like This' Inspired By Ryan Gosling Movie 'Drive'

The Backstreet Boys have a new album coming out on July 30 called In A World Like This. To prepare the world for the return of BSB, they've released a steady stream of "still got it" tracks. The latest is called "Breathe" and, according to the Boys themselves, was inspired by the moody, stylish Ryan Gosling thriller Drive.

Via Billboard:

"A.J. [McLean] was watching the movie 'Drive,' and the music kind of has that dark, mysterious feel to it," recalls [Howie] Dorough. "He came to me, and I had just recently seen that movie, and I loved the idea. He started off with the melody for the chorus, and then I came to him and started putting feeling into the words... It's a great song. It's one of those songs that's just a love song about that one person that you meet and you can't breathe around them." 

Anyone who has seen Drive can see where this is going. A love song about being unable to breathe without someone around is about as far from the neon and grit of Drive as you can get, though the influences mentioned are easy to spot. 

The song features a sparse synthesized drum and a vocal melody in the verses that could have easily come from listening to "Real Hero" a few times over. However, any hopes for a slick, dark song from BSB get destroyed when the ultra-upbeat chorus barges in.

(Besides, they already did dark on "The Call." 'Memba?)

Check out "Breathe" over at Billboard.