Songfacts®:

• This up-tempo track about finding love when you need it most is the lead single and title track of Backstreet Boys' eighth studio album. A.J. McLean shared with MTV News what significance the title holds for him. "I think 'In a World Like This,' both in a pop world that we've been living in for the past 20 years, and just the world that we live in with all the different things, positive things [and] negative things going on in this entire world," he said. "We're still here 20 years later, living in this world that we've created. And I think it's positive actually. It does kind of sound a little dark, but I think it's positive."
• The track was recorded in London and Los Angeles and produced by Max Martin. Working with the Swedish hitmaker was a full-circle moment for The Backstreet Boys, as he created some of their biggest songs, including "I Want It That Way," "Shape of My Heart" and "We've Got It Goin' On." "It's definitely a symbiotic relationship that we share," Nick Carter said to MTV News of working with Martin again. "Like Kevin said, we've changed each other's lives. Everything seems right now. It just seems like the right fit. The right time for him because he's a really busy man, but what we created together from our hits... they're kind of like masterpieces in his mind. So he wanted to live up to that in a certain way. So that's why it took this long to maybe come back around. It was just the right time for both of us."
• The song's music visual has a love conquers all theme. AJ McLean said, "The concept of the video is based on the song, which tells a story of how love conquers all. In a world like this that we live in, with all the craziness and negative energy that can go around, with real love you can overcome anything."