Neotheater

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" on January 29, 2019. They also released a promotional single "Birthday Party" 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 units (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 wrote in par, citing the bubbly tracks stepped in light orchestration, crisp hooks, and the social commentary, while AllMusic 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 "In Heaven", written by Peter Ivers and David Lynch and performed by Laurel Near in the 1977 film Eraserhead.
 * 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 (5, 10)
 * Chris Berry – drums (2–4)
 * Chris Cerrato – design
 * Ezra Donellan – vocals (2)
 * Samia Finnerty – vocals (5, 9, 12)
 * Chris Gehringer – mastering
 * Bruce Healey – choir arranger (1)
 * JJ Kirkpatrick – trumpet (3–5, 7)
 * Ruth Kornblatt-Stier – cello (1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 12)
 * Emelia Suljic – violin (3–5, 7)
 * Joe Zook – mixing