Neotheater is the third studio album by American pop band AJR. It was released on April 26, 2019 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."
This album contained three official singles. AJR released the lead single "100 Bad Days" on January 29, 2019. They followed up with the second single, "Birthday Party", on March 12, 2019. "Dear Winter" was later released as the third official single on April 5, 2019. On October 25, 2019, they released "Dear Winter 2.0," an alternate version of the original song with added instruments.
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.
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. 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.
Personnel Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.
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 Chris Berry – drums Chris Cerrato – design Ezra Donellan – vocals Samia Finnerty – vocals Chris Gehringer – mastering Bruce Healey – choir arranger JJ Kirkpatrick – trumpet Ruth Kornblatt-Stier – cello Emelia Suljic – violin Joe Zook – mixing
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (2019) Peakposition Australian Digital Albums (ARIA) 49 US Billboard 200 8
Year-end charts Chart (2019) Position US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) 79
Certifications
See also Neotheater World Tour List of 2019 albums
References