OK Orchestra

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OK Orchestra
AJR - OK Orchestra.png
Studio album by
AJR
ReleasedMarch 26, 2021 (2021-03-26)
Recorded2019–2021
Length45:49
Label
ProducerRyan Met
AJR chronology
Neotheater
(2019) 		OK Orchestra
(2021)
Singles from OK Orchestra
  1. "Bang!"
    Released: February 12, 2020
  2. "Bummerland"
    Released: August 31, 2020
  3. "My Play"
    Released: December 22, 2020
  4. "Way Less Sad"
    Released: February 17, 2021

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[]

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.

OK Orchestra track listing
No.TitleLength
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 performance for OK Orchestra
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[]

  1. ^ Uitti, Jacob (March 22, 2021). "AJR Hits Its Stride on New Album 'OK ORCHESTRA'". American Songwriter. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "OK Orchestra by AJR". Apple Music. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  5. ^ Fields, Taylor. "AJR Share New Song 'Way Less Sad' From Upcoming New Album 'OK Orchestra'". iHeartRadio. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  6. ^ "AJR Releases New Single And Video "Way Less Sad"" (Press release). February 17, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Volatile Weekly.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Caulfield, Keith (April 4, 2021). "Rod Wave Earns First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'SoulFly'". Billboard. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  9. ^ "Official Albums Chart Update Top 100: 29 March 2021 – 04 April 2021". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  10. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100: 2 April 2021 – 8 April 2021". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  11. ^ "Credits / OK ORCHESTRA / AJR". Tidal. March 26, 2021. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  12. ^ "AJR Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  13. ^ "AJR Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  14. ^ "AJR Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  15. ^ "AJR Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  16. ^ "AJR Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
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