''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 two official singles, and one promotional single. AJR released the lead single "

100 Bad Days "100 Bad Days" is a song by American pop band AJR. It was released on January 29, 2019 via S-Curve Records as the lead single from the band's third studio album '' Neotheater''. Background After AJR released their second studio album, '' The ...

" on January 29, 2019. They also released a promotional single "

Birthday Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

" on March 12, 2019. " Dear Winter" was later released as the second 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 unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...

s (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 favorable to mixed reviews. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' wrote in par, citing the bubbly tracks stepped in light orchestration, crisp hooks, and the social commentary, while

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

says that the album is "never less than refreshing".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jack Met and Ryan Met. All tracks are produced by Ryan Met. Notes * "Birthday Party" features a sample of the song "

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", written by

Peter Ivers Peter Scott Ivers (born Peter Scott Rose, September 20, 1946 – March 3, 1983) was an American musician, singer, songwriter and television personality. He served as host of the experimental music television show '' New Wave Theatre''. Despite ...

and

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

and performed by Laurel Near in the 1977 film ''

Eraserhead ''Eraserhead'' is a 1977 American independent surrealist body horror film written, directed, produced, and edited by David Lynch. Lynch also created its score and sound design, which included pieces by a variety of other musicians. Shot in bl ...

''. *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 * Adam Met – bass guitar, programming, samples, percussion, vocals * 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 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 Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound in New Jersey. Gehringer is known for having mastered recordings by popular artists such as AJR, Dua Lipa, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Gwen Stefani, Harry Styles, ...

– mastering * Bruce Healey – choir arranger * JJ Kirkpatrick – trumpet * Ruth Kornblatt-Stier – cello * Emelia Suljic – violin * Joe Zook – mixing

Background and release

Commercial performance

Critical reception

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

See also

References