OK Orchestra
OK Orchestra | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | March 26, 2021 | |||
Recorded | 2019–2021 | |||
Length | 45:49 | |||
Label |
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Producer | Ryan Met | |||
AJR chronology | ||||
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Singles from OK Orchestra | ||||
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OK Orchestra (stylized in all caps as OK ORCHESTRA) is the fourth studio album by American pop band AJR. It was released on March 26, 2021,[1][2][3] by the band's label AJR Productions. The album was produced by group member Ryan Met.
Promotion and release[]
In February 2020, AJR released the album's first single, "Bang!", which ended up becoming one of the trio's biggest hits. On August 31, 2020 they released the album's second single, "Bummerland", a song about the band sarcastically expressing their feelings on the COVID-19 pandemic. On December 20, 2020, they announced that OK Orchestra would be the name of their upcoming album, while also releasing the promotional single "My Play". It was put up for pre-order on iTunes/Apple Music[4] and showed that the album contained 13 tracks.[3] AJR released the album's third single "Way Less Sad" and its music video on February 17, 2021,[5][6] On March 21, 2021, AJR launched OKO World, an interactive experience playable on their official website.[7] On March 26, 2021, the day that the album was released, they released a music video for "OK Overture" and "World's Smallest Violin". On June 23, almost three months later, they released a music video for "3 O'Clock Things". Two months afterwards on August 12, a music video for "Christmas in June" was released which featured footage filmed at the Wonderstruck Festival in Cleveland.
Critical reception[]
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The album received favorable to mixed reviews from professional critics, similarly to their previous releases. A.D. Amorosi of Variety described the album as "harmonically vocalized, hyper-memoir-centric, atmospheric mélange of pop, hip-hop, and doo-wop with quirky rhythms and a salting of smart-assed They Might Be Giants for tart taste".[2]
Commercial performance[]
OK Orchestra debuted at number 10 on the US Billboard 200 dated April 10, 2021, becoming AJR's second top-10 album. It earned 32,000 album-equivalent units, including 13,000 pure album sales.[8] Although OK Orchestra placed at number 55 on the midweek UK Albums Chart dated March 29, 2021,[9] it did not place in the final listing on April 2.[10]
Track listing[]
All tracks are written by Adam Met, Jack Met, and Ryan Met.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "OK Overture" | 4:32 |
2. | "Bummerland" | 3:09 |
3. | "3 O'Clock Things" | 3:47 |
4. | "My Play" | 3:10 |
5. | "Joe" | 3:33 |
6. | "Adventure Is Out There" | 3:32 |
7. | "Bang!" | 2:51 |
8. | "The Trick" | 2:51 |
9. | "Ordinaryish People" (featuring Blue Man Group) | 3:40 |
10. | "Humpty Dumpty" | 3:38 |
11. | "World's Smallest Violin" | 3:01 |
12. | "Way Less Sad" | 3:28 |
13. | "Christmas in June" | 4:40 |
Total length: | 45:49 |
Personnel[]
Credits adapted from Tidal.[11]
AJR
- Jack Met – lead vocals, instruments
- Adam Met – vocals, instruments
- Ryan Met – vocals, production (all tracks), instruments (2, 7), programming (2, 4, 12)
Additional personnel
- Alba Avoricani – additional vocals (1, 3–13)
- Emelia Suljic - violin (1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10)
- Ruth Kornblatt-Stier - cello (1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10)
- Danny Ferenbach – violin (1, 3–6, 8–13), trumpet (12)
- JJ Kirkpatrick - trumpet (7)
- Bas Janssen – trumpet engineer (3)
- Blue Man Group – ensemble (9)
- Chris Gehringer – mastering
- Joe Zook – mixing
- Kamila Stankiewicz – artwork
- Chris Cerrato – design
- Jader Souza – design
Charts[]
Chart (2021) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[12] | 27 |
US Billboard 200[13] | 10 |
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[14] | 3 |
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[15] | 1 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[16] | 1 |
References[]
- ^ Uitti, Jacob (March 22, 2021). "AJR Hits Its Stride on New Album 'OK ORCHESTRA'". American Songwriter. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Amorosi, A. D. (March 26, 2021). "Indie-Pop Brother Band AJR Is A-OK With the Lustrously Theatrical 'OK Orchestra': Album Review". Variety. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b AJR (March 26, 2021). "AJR knew exactly what they needed to say on 'OK Orchestra'". Alternative Press (Interview). Interviewed by Marianne Eloise. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
- ^ "OK Orchestra by AJR". Apple Music. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
- ^ Fields, Taylor. "AJR Share New Song 'Way Less Sad' From Upcoming New Album 'OK Orchestra'". iHeartRadio. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
- ^ "AJR Releases New Single And Video "Way Less Sad"" (Press release). February 17, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Volatile Weekly.
- ^ AJR [@AJRBrothers] (March 21, 2021). "OKO World has arrived. Go to ajrbrothers.com to take your first tour and see when each door will open. Best experienced on a computer to explore the world" (Tweet). Retrieved March 30, 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (April 4, 2021). "Rod Wave Earns First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'SoulFly'". Billboard. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Update Top 100: 29 March 2021 – 04 April 2021". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100: 2 April 2021 – 8 April 2021". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ "Credits / OK ORCHESTRA / AJR". Tidal. March 26, 2021. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
- ^ "AJR Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- ^ "AJR Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- ^ "AJR Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- ^ "AJR Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- ^ "AJR Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- 2021 albums
- AJR (band) albums
- Orchestral pop albums