There’s going to be new, original music from downcast soon, but in the meantime, the Bristolian emo crew have put their own stamp on a familiar piece of pop to get their fans in the mood.

They’ve just shared an absolutely storming cover of the Backstreet Boys hit ‘Just Wanted You To Know’, which was originally a UK top ten hit for the US boy band in 2005.

Clinging onto the original melody, but stoking up the guitars, the track immediately sounds like something tailor made for this melodic alt-rock band, particularly when you take into consideration how well downcast handle tight vocal harmonies. In fact, the track – despite not being written for them, or chiefly for a rock audience – now plays like a small sidestep from downcast’s own ‘I Want To Love Again’ from 2023.

The bright guitar tones and the strong harmonies very much stand out from first listen. For downcast’s fans, there’s likely going to be a great love for the way a massively melodic chorus crashes in with a little extra crunch, and how parts of the huge melody are underscored by subtle guitar harmonics, but everything just works from the off. Despite the boy band universe seeming a world apart from the hard rock world, this shouldn’t actually be a massive surprise, of course, since principle songwriter Max Martin (aka Martin White, writer of the Backstreet Boys’ ‘Backstreet’s Back’ and the Britney Spears mega-hit ‘…Baby One More Time’) first found fame as frontman and songwriter with Swedish funk metal band Its Alive.

This is definitely a cover that’ll be loved by downcast’s fans, but also have enough charm to attract new listeners. Check out the full video below.