New Kids On The Block is celebrating the release of their first new album in 11 years, Still Kids, and they stopped by the Hard Rock Hotel New York for an Audacy Check In with Foxx & Annie to chat all about it.

Released May 17, Still Kids, features 14 new tracks including everything from pop anthems and dance tracks to love songs and grooves that have all become fast favorites for their Blockheads fan club. “We’re excited it’s finally out, people can listen to it and we can share the experience,” shared the band’s Joey McIntyre. “It’s something we’re proud of. It’s a good mix of back in the day, but talking about things that are going on in our lives now.”

With a little bit of old and a little bit of new, what makes the guys most proud is the cohesiveness of the project allowing fans to reminisce on the days of listening to an album from top to bottom — no skips.

“I think what we’re most excited about… is we think we made an album you can listen to like we did in the old days,” said Donnie Wahlberg. “Nowadays you go on iTunes and you skip around, but when we were young, we put in a CD [or] an 8-Track of an album and listened to everything.”

He continued, “I remember listening to [Michael Jackson’s] Thriller from front to back — I didn’t skip a song. We wanted to make an album where you don’t skip a song and I think we accomplished that... Every song means something, there’s no filler, there’s nothing that’s just there to take up space and after 11 years, the fans deserve that.”

To celebrate their new music further, the guys have revealed plans for a brand new tour, The Magic Summer 2024 Tour. Kicking off June 14, the trek will visit more than 40 cities and feature members Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood. 

While bringing fans some of their greatest hits from the past, the guys also look forward to sharing their new music that has already proven to be a hit with fans everywhere.

“The album is authentic,” said Wahlberg. “It’s still New Kids, it still sounds like New Kids, feels like New Kids — it has the feels — but is very genuine from all of us and is a very genuine love letter or ode to the fans, but also real stuff that we’re talking about, real experiences related to the journey of the band, some related to personal life stuff that, because it’s authentic, the fans are relating to it in a tremendous way.”

Hear about the new music, the album-making process, what they’ve been up to the past 11 years and so much more by checking out Audacy’s Check In with New Kids On The Block, above.

Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Foxx & Annie