Nick Carter surprised his fans last year when his debut solo album was full of rock music. For his next album, Carter will use the styles that made the Backstreet Boys icons.

“What I had done on the last album, I had gone out and did rock music,” Carter tells andPOP, in Toronto for a charity event hosted by Hilary Duff. “It was rock-pop with a little bit of a rock edge.”

“Now what I want to do is kind of go back to my roots. My up-tempo is going to be pop-rock, with dance music, so I can probably dance to it again. The mid-tempo is going to be kind of Backstreet sounding. Low-tempo is going to be R&B, slow, kind of reminiscent of the Backstreet Boys.”

While Carter is changing his sound a little for his upcoming second solo album, his rock influences will still be evident, with the help from Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee.

“I’ve got a lot of respect from people like Tommy,” Carter says. “Tommy is probably going to be playing some drums on the record with me.”

He also plans to work with producers Rodney Jerkins, Fred Jerkins, and Teddy Riley, and artists like Snow, and maybe even Elton John.

“It’s going to be packed with a lot of celebrities that I’m going to be reaching out to this time around. This one’s going to be hot. I’m out for blood this time around.”

Carter will begin recording in the next two weeks.

As for the status on the Backstreet Boys, Carter remains mum.

“We’re on hiatus for right now.”

Want to see a video of the interview? Check back to andPOP later this week.

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