Aaron Carter's Comeback Single Is So Good It's Confusing

Is this an April Fools' joke?

You remember Aaron Carter, right?

Chris Weeks / Getty Images

Backstreet Boy Nick Carter's younger brother. House party enthusiast. Impetus for the bitter rivalry between Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan. Once beat Shaq.

Of course you do.

Well, big news: the '00s tween icon is all grown-up and back with "Fool's Gold," a seriously chill new single that's several orders of magnitude better than it has any right to be.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDOmB2eR18s/?taken-by=aaroncarter

Rakkaus Records

Not only is "Fool's Gold" decidedly Not Bad, it's actually Pretty Good — kind of Zayn-meets-Justin Bieber.

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It's so good, in fact, that the entire situation starts to seem a little suspicious: Aaron Carter — Aaron Carter! — releases his first single in over a decade on April Fools' Day and it's 1) titled "Fool's Gold" and 2) actually good? That seems like A Bit Much. Very "sure, Jan," no?

No?

Well, it raised some red flags for me, so I did some research and it turns out Aaron has been performing this "Fool's Gold" live for months — months! He's been on tour and in the recording studio trying to mount a musical comeback for months! So, while I'm still reluctant to rule out the possibility that this is an elaborate long-con of an April Fools' joke — Anything is possible! Aaron Carter did release a bop, after all! — it definitely seems like Aaron Carter has simply defied the former-child-star odds and released a surprisingly Cool Tune™.

Congrats, Aaron Carter! You have officially recaptured my attention!

Aaron Carter / Via instagram.com

Now please don't abuse this power and subject me to any more transparent queer-baiting or misguided Trump tweets — only in this for the chill pop&b!