The Singles Jukebox

It’s not you; it’s us…

[Video]
[3.57]

Juan F. Carruyo: Great time to remind everybody that BSB are in that stage of their career where they have their own cruise, so releasing any new music is mainly an exercise of keeping their wheels moss-free rather than recouping any of that young demographic they once conquered. This track pleasantly rolls along for the verses, then it pokes you with once-fresh VST synths from 2009. A valiant effort. 
[6]

Alfred Soto: Their persistence is almost touching, and no doubt “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” will serve as an excuse to tour and a reason for fans to run out to the bathroom or another plastic glass of Chardonnay. The vocals are so processed that it’s like the Boys have exposed their audience to a Fever Ray single. 
[3]

Jonathan Bradley: If you still dream of the Backstreet Boys of your youth, who commanded harmony and dynamics in service of mecha-sized heft, this new single might indeed go breaking your heart. This is barely perceptible as a group performance; in terms of personality, the presence of even one fails to register. But the aerodynamic anonymity is wielded in service of a deft glide and the synth hits gesture at the scale foregone in the group’s 2018 incarnation. Best of all: the starry keyboard runs remind me of Cut Copy’s electro-disco.
[6]

Micha Cavaseno: Synths that sound frighteningly fluorescent but unattractive. Verses that feel mannered and florid all at once. A gang of vocal performances that feel disconnected but uncommitted. It’s weird that in the past decade there have been so many demonstrations that the once mocked concept of the boy-band could still find life in it again and again, but nowadays one of the biggest of the preceding decade just sounds uncomfortable in their own skin, unable to figure out how to mirror the present yet still mature with grace and dignity.
[4]

Edward Okulicz: The verses promise a massive juggernaut of a power ballad, but the tyres are flat and the tank is empty — instead, a boomy and frankly uncomfortable chorus is the payoff. I wanted chest-beating balladry, not this song which wants for balls as much as it wants for heart.
[3]

Stephen Eisermann: Nick Carter and co. spend their time here singing about the fear of their hearts breaking. I wonder how that compares to the fear that Nick’s two alleged victims feel every time they see/hear/think about him. I guess the one good thing is that this dated piece of garbage song won’t get much airplay, so they shouldn’t have to worry on that end.
[0]

Iain Mew: Weak synth-pop with a “Delicate” bridge; it sounds like all were so focused on succeeding in the task of trying to sound contemporary, give or take five years, that they lost sight of anything past that.
[3]