DNA is the ninth studio album (eighth in the United States) by the
Backstreet Boys.[3] The album was first released in Japan on January 23, 2019, and everywhere else on January 25, 2019, through a collaboration with the group's own K-BAHN
record label and
RCA Records. The album features tracks written by
Edei,
Lauv,
Andy Grammer,
Stuart Crichton,
Ryan Tedder and
Shawn Mendes.[4] This is the group's second album, after 2007's Unbreakable, without involvement from long-time producers and friends
Max Martin and
Kristian Lundin. It also serves as the follow-up to their eighth studio album, In a World Like This (2013). It was preceded by the singles "
Don't Go Breaking My Heart", "
Chances", "No Place", and is supported by the
DNA World Tour, which is the band's most expansive in 18 years. The tour began on May 11, 2019, in
Lisbon, Portugal,[5] before visiting North America in July 2019.[6] The album is their first on one of
Sony Music's subsidiary companies after In a World Like This was released independently through
BMG.[7] It debuted at number one on the US
Billboard 200, becoming the Backstreet Boys' third number-one album there and the first since Black & Blue in 2000.
Background and promotion
A press release stated that the group "analyzed their individual DNA profiles to see what crucial element each member represents in the group's DNA".[6]Kevin Richardson said of the album: "We were able to bring all of our influences and styles into one coherent piece of work. These songs are a great representation of who we are as individuals and who we are as a group. It's our DNA. We're really proud of that," yet not a single song on the album was written by any members of the group.[5] DNA is also short for "Digital and Analog" which is how the boys started recording in the 1990s.
The group announced the name of the album and its release date on November 9, 2018. The same day, they also released the single "
Chances" and announced the
DNA World Tour in support of the album, which began in May 2019.[8]
DNA received mostly positive reviews from music critics. At
Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 67 based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[9]
Commercial performance
DNA debuted at number one on the US
Billboard 200 with 234,000
album-equivalent units, of which 227,000 were pure album sales.[14] It is the Backstreet Boys' third number-one album and first in 19 years, the last being Black & Blue (2000). It also makes this their eighth consecutive top-ten album following In a World Like This (2013), and set the group's record of generating number-one albums for three consecutive decades (1990-2010).[14]
In Canada, the album debuted at number one with over 46,000 first week sales. On January 3, 2020 the album was certified platinum with over 80,000 sales. This is also the 5th highest-selling album in Canada in 2019 in terms of physical copies.[15]
In Japan, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart selling 26,210 physical copies and 3,644 digital downloads.[16]
^"Czech Albums – Top 100".
ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 05.Týden 2019 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved February 5, 2019.