Neotheater
studio
ArtistAJR
CoverAJR Neotheater.jpg
ReleasedApril 26, 2019
Length44:28
Label
Producer
  • Ryan Met
Prev year2017
Next year2021

Neotheater is the third studio album by American pop band AJR. It was released on April 26, 2019[2] by the band's label AJR Productions. The album was self-produced by the trio. It is a follow-up to the trio's 2017 album The Click (2017).

Background and release

The 12 tracks were collectively described as "a coming of age tale that hears the band coming to terms with the sacrifices that come with growing older now that they are in their 20s". A description of the album also stated: "The buoyant and uplifting music is juxtaposed with darker lyrical narratives that touch on anxiety, naivete and searching for integrity."[3]

This album contained three official singles. AJR released the lead single "100 Bad Days" on January 29, 2019.[4] They followed up with the second single, "Birthday Party", on March 12, 2019.[5] "Dear Winter" was later released as the third official single on April 5, 2019.[6] On October 25, 2019, they released "Dear Winter 2.0," an alternate version of the original song with added instruments.[7]

Commercial performance

Neotheater debuted at number eight on the US Billboard 200 with 52,000 album-equivalent units (of which 32,000 were pure album sales). It is AJR's highest-peaking and first US top 10 album.[8]

Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews. Rolling Stone wrote in par, citing the bubbly tracks stepped in light orchestration, crisp hooks, and the social commentary, while AllMusic says that the album is "never less than refreshing".

Track listing

Notes

  • "Birthday Party" features a sample of the song "In Heaven", written by Peter Ivers and David Lynch and performed by Laurel Near in the 1977 film Eraserhead.[9]
  • Ryan Met is credited with writing two of the songs on this album by himself. One of those songs is "Dear Winter". Jack Met further discusses the origins of this song at 18:30 - 22:37 of source 7.[10]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[11]

AJR

  • Jack Met – lead vocals, guitar, melodica, ukulele, drums, percussion, keyboards, synthesizers, samples, programming, trumpet, composition
  • Ryan Met – lead vocals, vocals, programming, keyboards, ukulele, trumpet, production, composition
  • Adam Met – bass guitar, programming, samples, percussion, vocals

Additional personnel

  • Daniel Rosenfeld – audio editing, composing
  • Maikel Valdama – audio editing, mixing
  • Drew Allsbrook – bass guitar (5, 10)
  • Chris Berry – drums (2–4)
  • Chris Cerrato – design
  • Ezra Donellan – vocals (2)
  • Samia Finnerty – vocals (5, 9, 12)
  • Chris Gehringer – mastering
  • Bruce Healey – choir arranger (1)
  • JJ Kirkpatrick – trumpet (3–5, 7)
  • Ruth Kornblatt-Stier – cello (1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 12)
  • Emelia Suljic – violin (3–5, 7)
  • Joe Zook – mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2019)Peak
position
Australian Digital Albums (ARIA)[12]49
US Billboard 200[8]8

Year-end charts

Chart (2019)Position
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[13]79

See also

References

  1. ^ "US: AJR debut atop the US charts with new album Neotheater". BMG. May 7, 2019. Archived December 1, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  2. ^ Adam Met, Jack Met, Ryan Met (March 10, 2019). NEOTHEATER - 4/26 (ALBUM TRAILER). AJR Productions. – via YouTube.
  3. ^ "AJR Neotheater – CD". Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  4. ^ Aniftos, Rania (January 30, 2019). "AJR Laugh About Their Failures In New Single '100 Bad Days'". Billboard. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  5. ^ Legaspi, Althea (March 12, 2019). "AJR Bring Exuberant '100 Bad Days' Performance to 'Kimmel'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  6. ^ Snyder, Brett (April 15, 2019). "AJR's Dear Winter Hits All The Feels". Better Spins. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  7. ^ Bosch, Eva (October 25, 2019). "AJR Release New Version Of "Dear Winter"". Strife Mag. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  8. ^ Caulfield, Keith (May 6, 2019). "P!nk's 'Hurts 2B Human' Album Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  9. ^ Met, Jack (March 26, 2019). AJR Chat About Their Latest LP, "Neotheater" (YouTube video). BUILD Series. pp. 13:27. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  10. ^ "AJR [LIVE Acoustic Performance] | 101X", 10 June 2019, retrieved 2021-04-07
  11. ^ Neotheater. AJR Productions. 2019.
  12. ^ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Digital Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. May 6, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  13. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2019". Billboard. Retrieved July 9, 2020.