OK Orchestra

OK Orchestra (stylized in all uppercase), often abbreviated as OKO, is the fourth studio album by American pop band AJR. It was released on March 26, 2021,[1][2][3] by the band's own 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
Length45:48
Label
Producer
AJR chronology
Neotheater
(2019)		 OK Orchestra
(2021)		 The Maybe Man
(2023)
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
  5. "OK Overture"
    Released: March 25, 2021
  6. "World's Smallest Violin"
    Released: March 26, 2021

Background

During a majority of the production of OK Orchestra, the album was titled Mad Orchestra, with AJR intending to make a "Bang!"-esque "dark and evil sounding" album. The band later decided on a more "melancholy, longing, and hopeful" sound opposed to this, thinking of the negative mental repercussions that would come with writing a dark album. They replaced the album's "Mad" prefix with "OK" to represent the album's theme of "being worried about becoming irrelevant and obsolete" in the future but feeling OK in the current moment.[4] In an interview alongside Rivers Cuomo, AJR confirmed that the title of OK Orchestra was not based on either Radiohead's OK Computer or Weezer's OK Human,[5] the latter of which features the band on a remix of the track "All My Favorite Songs".

Promotion and release

In February 2020, AJR released the album's first single, "Bang!", which became one of the trio's biggest hits ever in 2021 and in their entire time playing music. The single was originally intended as a track for a deluxe version of Neotheater, however this never came to fruition, and the song eventually became the lead single for the forthcoming album.[6]

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[7] 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,[8][9] On March 21, 2021, AJR launched OKO World, an interactive experience playable on their official website.[10]

AJR released a music video for "OK Overture" and "World's Smallest Violin" the same day the album was released. 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".

Critical reception

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] In a review for AllMusic, Matt Collar wrote that "OK Orchestra isn't just full of hit-worthy pop hooks, it's stage-worthy, ambitious, and full of insights driven by AJR's personal experience", rating the album 4/5.[11] Thomas Stremfel of Spectrum Culture received the album less positively, rating the album 1.25/5 and stating that "hearing the terrible production and cringe-inducing songwriting of OK Orchestra without warning makes for an undeniably engaging listen... Year-end album lists should be filing restraining orders against this album, but that doesn't mean you can't listen to it for a cheap laugh."[12]

Accolades

The album was nominated for Top Rock Album at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards alongside other bands 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.[13] Although OK Orchestra placed at number 55 on the midweek UK Albums Chart dated March 29, 2021,[14] it did not place in the final listing on April 2.[15] Much of the album's popularity has been contributed to the singles "Bang!", "Way Less Sad", and "World's Smallest Violin".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Adam Met, Jack Met, and Ryan Met.

OK Orchestra track listing
No.TitleLength
1."OK Overture"4:31
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.[16]

AJR

  • Adam Met – bass guitar, instruments, vocals
  • Jack Met – lead vocals, instruments
  • Ryan Met – lead vocals, vocals, production (all tracks), instruments (2, 7), programming (2, 4, 12)

Additional personnel

  • Alba Avoricani – additional vocals (1, 3–13)
  • Arnetta Johnson - trumpet
  • 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)
  • Barbara D Dirickson - narrator (1)
  • Andrew Sobelsohn - slide guitar (1)
  • 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
  • Kenny Urban - beatbox

Charts

Certifications
Certifications for OK Orchestra
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[28] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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. AJR (March 30, 2021). AJR Breaks Down Their New Album "OK ORCHESTRA" (YouTube video). Zach Sang Show. Event occurs at 1:33. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
  5. AJR; Cuomo, Rivers (June 4, 2021). AJR & Rivers Cuomo Talk “All My Favorite Songs”, How They’ve Inspired Each Other & Collaborations (YouTube video). Zach Sang Show. Event occurs at 26:25. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  6. Pettican, Luke (May 14, 2020). "AJR". EUPHORIA. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  7. "OK Orchestra by AJR". Apple Music. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  8. Fields, Taylor. "AJR Share New Song 'Way Less Sad' From Upcoming New Album 'OK Orchestra'". iHeartRadio. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  9. "AJR Releases New Single And Video "Way Less Sad"" (Press release). February 17, 2021. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Volatile Weekly.
  10. 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.
  11. Collar, Matt. "OK Orchestra Review by Matt Collar". AllMusic. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  12. Stremfel, Thomas (May 11, 2021). "AJR: OK Orchestra". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  13. Caulfield, Keith (April 4, 2021). "Rod Wave Earns First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'SoulFly'". Billboard. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  14. "Official Albums Chart Update Top 100: 29 March 2021 – 04 April 2021". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  15. "Official Albums Chart Top 100: 2 April 2021 – 8 April 2021". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  16. "Credits / OK ORCHESTRA / AJR". Tidal. March 26, 2021. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  17. "AJR Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  18. "AJR Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  19. "AJR Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  20. "AJR Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  21. "AJR Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  22. "AJR Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  23. "AJR Chart History (Vinyl Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  24. "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  25. "Independent Albums – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  26. "Top Alternative Albums – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  27. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  28. "American album certifications – AJR – OK Orchestra". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
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