It’s hard to explain to those who weren’t around in the late ’80s and early ’90s just how massive New Kids On the Block were.
Actually, that’s not true. Think of a band made up of five Biebers, but at various stages of his career: there is young, baby-faced, teenage Bieber (Joey McIntyre); tough, egg-throwing, public pissing, off-the-rails Bieber (Donny Wahlberg); post-‘Sorry’, Hillsong Bieber (Jordan Knight) and… well you get the point. They were the first (white) boy band, raised on the mean streets of Boston, and moulded into a pop juggernaut by manager Maurice Star. Mark Wahlberg was an early member before leaving to do his own Marky Mark thing.
They sold over 80 million copies, and their 1990 single ‘Tonight’ is secretly one of the most meta, avant garde, psychedelic pop singles ever.
The kids are no longer kids (as evidenced by their 1993 rebrand as the G-Funk slinging NKOTB, who released the misogyny-fest ‘Dirty Dawg’), and they have just announced a new five-track EP, Thankful, their first release since 2013.
The EP will be released May 12, with the lead single available to stream now. It’s called ‘One More Night’ and it sounds current without pandering to any of that auto-tuned, EDM-tinged production that many older artists attempting to stay relevant lather their songs with.
Give it a listen, below.
