AJR’s “Neotheather” [Review]

I don’t think I’ve ever fallen in love with an album as fast as I did with Neotheater. I’m not entirely sure if I had heard a song by AJR before I heard this album, but they have become one of my favorite bands. This album came out on April 26, 2019, and I heard it 2 days later. By the end of the week, I owned a signed CD of Neotheater as well as two copies of the vinyl (now 3).

Neotheater is the third studio album released by AJR, following up “The Click”. The album has been 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 20’s. The buoyant and uplifting music is juxtaposed with darker lyrical narratives that touch on anxiety, naivete, and searching for integrity.” on the sale page for the CD and I don’t think I could phrase that any better.

For this review, I’ll be heavily referencing this interview that the band did with Zach Sang, as well as an interview with Kevan Kenney.

Welcome to the Neotheater won’t you take your seat?

To quote Ryan of AJR, Neotheater is “an all-encompassing world where you can go, where you don’t have to learn all of those lessons we’re learning in our 20’s, and you can just be in a new theater and play pretend”.

“Next Up Forever” is how you start an album. Prior to this album, AJR would typically start the album off with an “Overture”, a song that samples every other song on the album. While this album doesn’t have an overture, it does incorporate pieces of some songs into others.

Neotheater is the magnum opus of AJR, it’s a coming of age story, and it shows in the first minute. The song kicks off with a grand choir, known as a “Closed Harmony Choir”. The band wanted this sound as it’s a big, almost nostalgic voice, like a voice in your head. This sound is very reminiscent of a Disney movie, and one of the reasons is because the band actually had a choir record this on telephone microphones from the 1940s. “The movie choirs and the way they harmonize sounds really alien and we thought, let’s combine all of that stuff with like the dirtiest hip-hop beats and the coolest AJR kind of like sounds.”. The band also did the same thing with the orchestra, and there’s even a sample of an elephant trumpeting in this song (can be heard clearly at 1:02). I want to take a closer look at these lyrics.

Your eyes are open, so never close them
You’ll sail the ocean, finding where you should be
And if you’re broken, you’ll make your own thing
You’ll make it so big for all the world to see
You’ll make it so damn big for all the world to see

As I said, this album is a coming of age story, and the opening lines hit that theme right on the nose. You finally realize that everyone has a place in the world and is striving to find it. And even if you don’t, you’ll find it eventually, or you’ll make one for yourself. No matter what, you can make it. However, the song takes a turn immediately after. From Disney to the “dirtiest hip-hop”, the contrast hits like a truck. The song is called “Next Up Forever”, and it gets that name from the thought that the anticipation is much better than the actual thing. The first line of the song is “I’m kinda scared to drop this album”, and that’s a real feeling that every artist has when releasing music, but the anticipation of waiting for someone’s reaction or waiting in line is so much better because of that anticipation. But sometimes “I gotta go so much bigger, so everybody’s proud of me […] I know I gotta grow up sometime, but I don’t think I’m ready yet”. The album revolves around the central theme of growing up and being afraid of what comes next. The anticipation, the fear, the nostalgia, that’s what this song is about.

“Birthday Party” uniquely takes the point of view of a newly born baby. The song can be taken multiple ways, however, it’s mostly a commentary on the U.S. and how “ignorance is always bliss”. The song talks about how everything is going to be great and that all of these things are happening or will happen and it’ll be a great life. The idea for this song came from a friend of the band who just had a baby. The band samples a song called “In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)” from David Lynch’s “Eraserhead”. It’s a haunting melody that helps strike that perfect mix of old and new, and by adding a voice that has been heavily modified to sound like a baby just adds another layer of depth. In the entirety of Neotheather, this song helps contribute to the idea that people are born into this world where they don’t have to worry and deal with any of the stresses that come with life.

The first single released off the album was “100 Bad Days”. The band wanted this single to be released as a bang and it nails it on the head as a great inspirational anthem. The song also aims to be “the last song of a party”. We hear a lot of elements that we’ve heard in the first two songs return here such as the closed harmony choir, the distorted voice as heard in the line “Maybe a hundred bad days made a hundred good stories” as well as the line “Screw your thing, it goes like this”. Most notably, the band uses what can be described as “big inspirational trumpets”. From the first note of the song with the incredibly distorted trumpet to the full-on brass ensemble during the chorus to the bridge which has the most incredible trumpet solo I’ve ever heard, which was made in 20 minutes. This song served as the solution to the band’s writer's block and was written in roughly an hour after a two-month writer’s block. The band was going through several changes in life such as moving out and after a bad day, the band wrote this song. The concept came from the fact that people love telling bad stories.

As the band was moving out of their parent’s house, one of the things that really hit the band personally was that they had a large box of Legos that would have been devastating if they had them thrown out, as they want a piece of them to be at home. It also represents a piece of you that you're leaving home for safekeeping in case something happens and you want to go back home and feel safe and comfortable. In “Don’t Throw Out My Legos”, AJR describes that feeling so personally. This song hits incredibly hard because it’s just so relatable. The overall theming of the album shows its face here again as it helps show the fear of the unknown. Venturing away from the safety of mom and dad’s house out on your own, it’s liberating and exciting up until the moment you step out the door. Adam, one of the members of the band has a tradition that his family follows every year for his birthday, which involves his family all sleeping over at their parent’s house. I also want to point out two major techniques used in this song. Firstly, the first sound you hear is the return of the closed harmony choir and several instruments, but it’s very chopped up as the band wanted to “sample their own sample”. It also flows incredibly well to the rest of the song. The other thing I want to focus on is how the lead on the chorus uses a much lower voice range and in the background, you hear the reverb of a much higher voice range for the same chorus which creates an echo effect that just helps add more weight to the vocals and gives the illusion of it carrying much further. The outro of the song is one big finale, it dips in the bridge and then they throw every instrument they have, resulting in a fever pitch that stirs you up.

“Break My Face” starts with the most amazing bass line, but the real star is the trumpet. AJR used a harmony engine, typically used on vocals, but applied it to a trumpet to create artificial harmonies. It’s a 1–2 punch followed up with a knockout punch of vocals. The trumpet is heard throughout the song and it’s just so entrancing. The way you can hear it every other measure along with the bass that’s almost always there, you can’t help but groove along to it. This song was made so that you don’t have to think too deeply. Initially, it was supposed to be about plastic surgery, but as the band couldn’t relate to that, they went with what it is now, a song about how things could always be worse, but everything will be okay in the end.

Following up from the previous album, “Turning Out Pt. ii" tells Ryan’s story of his love life. The lyric

“I think I probably wasn’t in love with you
I think I probably loved the idea of you
And though I may be missing the feel of you
I think I probably wasn’t in love with you”

is such a raw statement. It’s so simple, yet so powerful. “Turning Out Pt. i" is a story of growing up and this song continues the trend of growing up and confronting feelings of love.

They wanted heaven from me
I gave ’em hell
Now they want something bigger
I’m overwhelmed

“The Entertainment’s Here” is a critique of how society gets so bored of things and how we focus on other people entertaining us. The line “I’ve been thinking, that too much thinking, can start me sinking down” is a direct follow-up to “Turning Out Pt. ii” as it helps show what too much thinking can result in. This song is a wide arrangement of instruments, sampling a school bell, using weird effects on trumpets to create a unique sound, it’s a lot of sounds that all somehow come together.

“Karma” takes an interesting approach as it’s told from the perspective of sitting in a psychiatrist’s office and talking to the doctor about the stresses of life. Jack wrote this song because he was having a rough year and despite him trying his best to be good, the karma isn’t working out. The song opens up with a choir vocalizing and features classical instruments throughout it as well to help push the heavy emotions featured especially at the end. Also, that cowbell is great. The entire outro of the song is recorded in such a way that it seems like it was done in one breath which helps push the complex thoughts that Jack is having about his life. The minimal use of instruments in the outro, building up with the choir backing, and immediately cutting out just helps emphasize that point even more.

Capitalizing on fame is something that a lot of people struggle with. In “Beats” AJR poses the question if they should sell out and make more money because tomorrow they may not be as well known as they were yesterday. This song takes the same approach as the previous one with the choir but mixes it up with the instruments used as well as adding other vocals. Similar techniques are used but a different sound is produced entirely. There is almost a robotic filter being used backing the pre-chorus. The use of such a wide range of instruments, sounds, and filters creates an almost inspirational song because of the supplemental vocals in the second half of the song.

One of the more relaxed songs on the album is “Wow I’m Not Crazy”. This song doesn’t really have much meaning behind it, but the main takeaway from this song is that we all aspire to be unique. When you have a wild or crazy idea that makes you look insane, someone says they feel the same way and you can just feel so much more grounded and safe knowing that "Wow, I’m not crazy". This song feels almost entirely acoustic with the use of clapping, tambourine, and other percussions, making it the most unique sounding on the album. The “drop” for the outro and the buildup to it is where we get that signature AJR sound.

The only acoustic song on the album is probably the hardest hitting. “Dear Winter” is a song written to Ryan’s future son, Winter. Jack considers this to be the best song Ryan has ever written. This song was written about how hard it is to find someone who will accept you as you are and finding love. Even though the main focus is Ryan’s son, the main thing missing is finding someone to have a kid with. This song really speaks for itself and can bring most people to tears. “Dear Winter 2.0” was released as a variant of this song which added more instruments and more effects to Jack’s voice, but I enjoy the more raw feeling of the original.

The closing song of the album, aptly titled “Finale (Can’t Wait To See What You Do Next)”, opens the same way the album started with that same choir, and then a hard cut to the “dirty hip-hop”. The choir is used to back Jack’s vocals and emphasize the beat. Swapping back and forth with the choir and Jack, the call and response juxtapose each other not only with the style of music but with the lyrics. Every technique, every instrument (except the cowbell), everything that we’ve heard on this album prior to this all builds up to this song. The choir brings the more nostalgic comforting part of the track while Jack challenges that with his lyrics. This track deserves the title “Finale” as it wraps up a beautiful album in the most grandiose way.

The Easter Egg Hunt

During the interview with Zach Sang, AJR revealed that they left some “Easter Eggs” within the album. Much like a Broadway musical, the band wanted to make the album feel like a more cohesive piece and as a result, they took parts of one song and hid them in another. The band revealed some of these during an Instagram Livestream. I’ll go over these here.

The most obvious one is in “Next Up Forever” at 2:57. The lyric “Welcome to the Neotheater” is clearly heard in “Finale” at 4:11. This helps tie the album together from beginning to end and promotes an almost cyclical like feeling.

In “Birthday Party” at 2:11 during the bridge, we hear the violins play the same lick in “Don’t Throw Out My Legos”.

At 2:20 in “100 Bad Days” and in “Karma” at 2:53 the same vocals, the “La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, da, da” plays during both of them.

The lyrics “‘Cause everything is going great” in Break My Face at 3:01 mirror those in Birthday Party “And everything is going great […] And my minute’s been going great” at 0:52 during the chorus.

“Turning Out Pt. ii”’s violins at 2:34 match the instruments at 1:15 in “Karma”.

The “Yep, yep, yep, yep” heard in “The Entertainment’s Here” at 2:51 can be heard in “Wow I’m Not Crazy” at 0:10.

The bridge in “Beats” at 2:15 can be heard in “Next Up Forever” at 1:33 if you listen to the violins.

In “Wow, I’m Not Crazy” vocalizing can be heard at 1:05 as well as in “Dear Winter” at 0:35.

There are probably more easter eggs, like an accidental one heard at 0:23 in “Finale” as well as in “Beats” at 0:15 recognizing their “bit of success”.

While these little “Easter Eggs” are a nice little thing for fans to listen out for, they help contribute to the album as a whole, promoting that every little thing within the album is part of one whole cohesive piece.

Final Thoughts

Neotheather is an emotional journey. While it may not hit everyone as hard as others, or if you find it to be somewhat generic pop music, you can’t deny that from a technical standpoint, this is an incredible album. As stated in the beginning, this album is geared to 20-something-year-olds who are coming of age, and if that isn’t you, you might not really enjoy this album for what it is.

AJR Breaks Down Their New Album Neotheater

AJR Chat About Their Latest LP, “Neotheater”

AJR Instagram Live 5/29/19 (no chat)

Album Score: 10/10
Favorite track: Don’t Throw Out My Legos

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