OK Orchestra

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.

OK Orchestra
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

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 third single from the album, "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 fourth 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. On February 9, 2022, AJR released a music video for "Ordinaryish People feat. Blue Man Group".

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] Janka Gerber for The Lancer Feed gave the album a 9/10, calling an upbeat and vulnerable album.[8] Alyssa Macaluso and Jill Rice for Fordham Observer both gave the album positive reviews, with Alyssa giving the album an 8.5/10 citing the upbeat tones capturing the range of emotions in the past year, while Jill gave it a 8.75/10, calling it fun and experimental.[9]

However, many reviewers criticized the album for being too similar to their previous releases in the theme.

Accolades

The album was nominated for Top Rock Album at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards alongside other bands like Twenty One Pilots, Coldplay, and Imagine Dragons.

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.[10] Although OK Orchestra placed at number 55 on the midweek UK Albums Chart dated March 29, 2021,[11] it did not place in the final listing on April 2.[12]

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.[13]

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)
  • Arnetta Johnson - Trumpets
  • 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

References
  1. Uitti, Jacob (March 22, 2021). "AJR Hits Its Stride on New Album 'OK ORCHESTRA'". American Songwriter. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  2. 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. 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. "Review: AJR's 'OK ORCHESTRA' presents band's most emotional lyrics paired with signature sound". The Lancer Feed. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  9. "Ram Jams: In 'OK Orchestra', Drums, Violins, Insecurities, Oh My!". Fordham Observer. April 17, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  10. Caulfield, Keith (April 4, 2021). "Rod Wave Earns First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'SoulFly'". Billboard. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  11. "Official Albums Chart Update Top 100: 29 March 2021 – 04 April 2021". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  12. "Official Albums Chart Top 100: 2 April 2021 – 8 April 2021". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  13. "Credits / OK ORCHESTRA / AJR". Tidal. March 26, 2021. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  14. "AJR Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  15. "AJR Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  16. "AJR Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  17. "AJR Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  18. "AJR Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  19. "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  20. "Independent Albums – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  21. "Top Alternative Albums – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  22. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
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