Charli XCX has yet again saluted the Backstreet Boys by covering their 1999 monster hit “I Want It That Way.” The True Romance singer first debuted her synth-washed take on the Millennium single during an in-store performance back in May, and now she’s revived the ’80s-savvy rendition for the A.V. Club’s weekly “Undercover” series. “I was watching the video before I did the song and there’s some crazy styling,” Charli told the A.V. Club, referencing the unfortunate facial hair and white-on-white fashion choices forever burned into history. “It’s really super cheesy… when they do it like that, but I feel like when you strip it back, it’s actually a really beautiful, powerful pop song.” Watch her no-frills version — all electirc percussion and smoky vocal pleas — in the video above.
Watch Charli XCX’s Slow-Burning Cover of Backstreet Boys’ ‘I Want It That Way’
