It's been six years since Kevin Richardson recorded new music with his groupmates in the Backstreet Boys. He's hoping that when he hits the studio with his longtime musical comrades, it'll be like he was never gone.

"We all discussed, we want this to be a personal record," Richardson told MTV News. "We want it to be authentic to us and who we are and where we're at in our lives. ... We want to talk about the things that are relevant in our life, and we want to be authentic and make a great record that we're proud of, and that's kind of where we're starting."

It's an album that has been in the works for several months, since [article id="1684089"]Richardson announced in April he would rejoin Backstreet Boys[/article], after [article id="1535035"]leaving in June 2006[/article]. So, what should fans expect from their first set of music as a five-piece since 2005's Never Gone?

"Before they did the European leg of the NKOTBSB tour, I flew over to London, and we met with a producer, Martin Terefe -- he did Train's 'Hey, Soul Sister' and Jason Mraz's 'I'm Yours,' " Richardson explained. "So, we had kind of been looking around at producers, and we chatted with him over the phone. We flew to London and met with him and wrote for a day and talked about the direction that we wanted and kind of the ideas that were floating around.

"We brainstormed, and then woke up the next day and went into the studio and wrote a song in like an hour. It felt really good, and so we think it's the right fit. And hopefully, he's going to produce the entire record."

The album will celebrate a landmark anniversary for the fivesome, who will get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013. "Our 20 year anniversary is coming up ... and it feels good, it feels right," Richardson said of the milestone, adding that the Walk of Fame recognition is "a great honor."

While he has not made music the past few years, Richardson has been hustling on his acting career. The fruits of that labor can be seen in two upcoming film releases: the 1960s relationship dramedy "The Casserole Club," and the vampire thriller "The Bloody Indulgent." Both projects let him explore his love for films.

"I grew up acting ... it's always been a passion of mine," Richardson said. "When I had the opportunity, I wanted to pursue film and television ... I didn't have a lot of experience acting in front of the camera -- only in music videos. One of the reasons I left the group in '06 was so that I could focus on that."

Now, Richardson is finding time to focus on both. He will be with the guys for the next three weeks, banging out new music. On Monday (July 9), their first day of recording, the Backstreet Boys tweeted, "First day in London working on our next album has already been amazing. So much great new music out here. This is gonna be fun!"

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