It was a few yr in the past when the producer Stuart Crichton was driving from his dwelling in Los Angeles to Las Vegas with a buddy from his native Scotland. “The ride was four hours long and as I was driving I was playing him some new songs I’ve been involved it,” remembers Crichton of the journey. “When I played him the demo for ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,’ he said I should send it to the Backstreet Boys.”
It turned out to be fruitful recommendation, with the group later slicing the demo produced by Crichton and Jamie Hartman, and co-written and sung by the singer-songwriter Stephen Wrabel. It shortly turned the largest Backstreet Boys tune in over a decade, with the piano-driven pop ballad premiering at No. 32 in June on the Pop Songs airplay chart, their first such entry since 2007. It’s additionally the newest hit for the duo, who labored individually earlier than forming a free partnership lately. “After chipping away for a long period of time, having a song with the Backstreet Boys is a fucking privilege as far as I’m concerned,” explains Hartman. “To work with guys as long as they’ve been around, with their level of success. It’s a wonderful, lovely thing and it just came together.”
The seeds of “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” have been planted solely two weeks earlier than Crichton’s jaunt to Vegas. “I remember Stuart playing those chords in that exact tempo,” says Hartman of the session. “Literally as soon as he started doing that, it sparked melodies very quickly for me and Wrabel. One thing I can promise you from working with Stu is that he gets a vibe going very quickly. It was ridiculously funky.”
From there, the trio quickly constructed the demo, some components of which got here collectively by pure happenstance. “I never quantize anything, but there was something up with my computer that day,” says Crichton of what’s basically the automated means of the tightening of a monitor in manufacturing software program. “For some reason, it quantized and it was too perfect to change back.” Another key to the demo was Wrabel’s vocal supply and development of the concord and melody on the tune’s infectious refrain. “We started out with a lower version and then we tried a third above it and it was slightly different and beautiful,” says Hartman. The complete tune took about 5 hours to finish and marked the primary collaboration as a trio for Crichton, Hartman and Wrabel.
The consequence was excellent fodder for the veteran boy band who have been on the lookout for a recent sound whereas additionally wanting to remain true to their musical roots. After all, it’s been a full 23 years since their first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 (in 1995, their early monitor “We’ve Got It Goin’ On” peaked at No. 35), and a full 19 years since their third album Millenium (that includes the ever present singles “I Want It That Way” and “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely”) turned one of many largest albums in music historical past, promoting over 13 million copies within the U.S. and serving to cement the late ’90s pop heyday.
After an extended break since their final chart entry, the Boys have been hungry for a comeback. Simultaneously, Crichton knew he had one thing particular. “I knew they wanted to do something fresh and contemporary, so I sent them the song and they flipped for it. The next day all five guys emailed me and their manager Jen saying, ‘We want this song and we want to cut it.’”
The success of “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” additionally marks the newest coup for Crichton and Hartman each as solo producers and as a duo. For Crichton, his profession stretches again to the early ’90s as a part of sultry-named Scottish digital duo Narcotic Thrust; he later moved towards producing for acts reminiscent of Kylie Minogue and the Pet Shop Boys, and extra lately earned manufacturing and writing credit on Kesha’s Grammy-nominated Rainbow (“Learn to Love” and “Let ‘em Talk”). Hartman, in the meantime, has had his hand in cuts for artists starting from Christina Aguilera to Jennifer Hudson, and co-wrote the smash Rag’n’Bone Man monitor “Human.” When the 2 have been first paired randomly for a session Hartman needed to bail on, he made an impression on Crichton by canceling in particular person. “He came into just say, ‘Hey, lovely to meet you. I’m sorry but I can’t do this session.’ And I thought, ‘That’s pretty cool.’”
It’s that thread of humanity that additionally endeared the duo to the Backstreet Boys. “The one thing that really made me impressed with them is that boys are so verbally appreciative of us,” Crichton says. “They’ve had a lot of success, which more often than not makes artists aloof with you; the ego takes over. But in any interview, we all get mentioned. I can’t tell you how many times they’ve told us how grateful they are. Even the last time I saw Kevin (Richardson), he turned to me and was like, ‘I can’t tell you enough, but thanks so much for ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart. It’s just so great for us.’ It makes me want to work ten times harder for them.”
After three a long time within the trenches, Crichton is aware of how uncommon that’s. “I remember someone asking me how I define success,” he says. “It’s very hard to maintain an income in this business, so if you get to do something you passionately love for almost 30 years… that, to me, is success. I still get the same excitement going into sessions. Longevity in the business is hard, but it’s slightly easier if you love what you do through the ups and downs.”
