| "Bummerland" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by AJR | ||||
| from the album OK Orchestra | ||||
| Released | August 31, 2020 | |||
| Recorded | 2019–2020 | |||
| Genre | Pop, electropop | |||
| Length | 3:09 | |||
| Label | S-Curve | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Producer(s) | Ryan Met | |||
| AJR singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Bummerland" on YouTube | ||||
"Bummerland" is a song by American pop band AJR. It was released on August 31, 2020 via S-Curve Records as the second single from the band's fourth studio album OK Orchestra .
During the Neotheater World Tour, the band began writing the song's instrumental, teasing it as a "confidential new AJR song" in episode 4 of their autobiographical documentary series Neotheater World Tour Doc. [1] In an interview on Zach Sang Show , Jack Met mentions that the song had six different choruses written for it over the instrumental's lifetime, but were unable to find one that fit. [2] The last chorus revision, written during the COVID-19 pandemic, was titled "Outside". AJR member Adam Met states that it was the only song on OK Orchestra that he did not like, with the meaning of the lyrics being mistakenly confused for socialized medicine. [3]
AJR planned on releasing "World's Smallest Violin" as a single in June 2020, but opted not to out of respect to the Black Lives Matter movement. [4] During this month, the lyrics of "Bummerland" instantaneously came to Jack while the band was at Long Island, saying in an interview "once we actually started writing 'Bummerland' we were done in probably 20 minutes". [2] Shortly after writing was finished the band immediately began recording the music video, with Ryan Met stating "as we were writing this one, we had this big feeling that it needed to come out right now" on his Instagram. [5] The song was teased on social media on August 23 and officially released on August 31, 2020. [6]
The lyrics to "Bummerland" describe hitting rock bottom with the optimistic mindset of "the only way to go is up", [7] while also including quarantine anecdotes. [8] The bridge of the song features "instrumoprhing", a transition from one instrument into another produced in a way to make it morph rather than cut, with "Bummerland" using a voice, trumpet, guitar, and violin. [9] This is also used in the song "World's Smallest Violin" from the same album.
The official video directed by Edoardo Ranaboldo was released on August 31, 2020. [10] The video begins with lead singer Jack Met sitting atop the Shorecrest Bed and Breakfast and later cuts to various shots of AJR performing the song in matching costumes. [11] 1⁄7 of the video features the song's drum performance, playing a taiko at Browder's Birds and a floor tom in the ocean. [8] The band additionally performs in a pink flamingo floaty on top of a car (later adapted into the single's cover artwork), a rusty truck, the ocean, a boat, and bikes at several locations in Suffolk County, New York, primarily Browder's Birds livestock farm and Lavender By the Bay lavender farm. [10] The video has grossed over 16 million views as of September 2023.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, "Bummerland" was unable to be performed live traditionally within its release year, but the band experimented with other methods. The song made its live debut at Live Nation's drive-in concert series, being performed on August 19 and August 20, 2020, two weeks before the single's release. [12] Later in the year, AJR partnered with UScellular to livestream an acoustic concert on December 18, 2020, featuring the first acoustic performance of "Bummerland". [13] On December 26, 2020, AJR hosted virtual concert AJR's One Spectacular Night , which saw the fourth and final 2020 performance of the song. [14]
In 2021, AJR performed "Bummerland" during the "We The People" virtual concert for president Joe Biden's inauguration. [15] [16] [17] Upon OK Orchestra's release date on March 26, 2021, the band livestreamed an acoustic concert featuring "Bummerland" and five other songs from the album. [18] AJR performed at virtual concert festival SUNYFest as an opening act for Kesha on April 24, 2021, including the song in their setlist. [19] On May 25, 2021, they performed a private concert at DTS Sound Space, marking the eighth and final performance of "Bummerland" before a return to the band performing standard concerts on July 2, 2021. [20]
The song, along with "Way Less Sad", was used in American baseball promotions for ESPN as their official anthem for the 2021 Major League Baseball season. [21]
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. [22]
| Chart (2020-2021) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs ( Billboard ) [23] | 32 |
| US Rock Airplay ( Billboard ) [24] | 42 |
AJR is an American indie pop band founded by brothers Adam, Jack, and Ryan Met, collectively a trio of vocalists, multi-instrumentalists, and songwriters. The brothers grew up in New York City, primarily focused on busking and singing covers until shifting to producing their albums and touring. At their home studio, AJR recorded more than 100 songs and has released five studio albums on various record labels along with their indie label.
"Weak" is a song by American indie pop band AJR. It was first released on their EP What Everyone's Thinking via the band's label AJR Productions on September 16, 2016, later becoming the third single for their second studio album The Click (2017). The song's lyrics describe acceptance of human weakness and feature an uptempo pop composition. A lyric and music video were released, with the latter featuring the band in a New York City subway. The music video went viral, with the song's popularity on Spotify helping the song become one of the band's highest-charting songs.
The Click is the second studio album by American indie pop band AJR. It was released on June 9, 2017, via the band's label AJR Productions and S-Curve Records, later released internationally through Ultra Records and Black Butter Records. The album follows the trio's previous work, maintaining a pop sound with elements of hip-hop, electronic dance music, and jazz. It includes a sole guest appearance from Rivers Cuomo of the band Weezer while taking influence from Fun, Twenty One Pilots, Kendrick Lamar, and Kanye West.
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).
"Dear Winter" is a song by American pop band AJR. It was released on April 5, 2019 via S-Curve Records as the second single from the band's third studio album Neotheater.
"Don't Throw Out My Legos" is a song by American pop band AJR, appearing as the fourth track on their third studio album Neotheater. It uses an upbeat keyboard-based instrumental while discussing the difficulty of growing up.
"Next Up Forever" is a song by American pop band AJR, appearing as the opening track on their third studio album Neotheater.
"Bang!" is a song by American pop band AJR. It was released on February 12, 2020, through their own label, AJR Productions. The song is the lead single from the band's fourth album, OK Orchestra. On August 8, 2020, a remix version was released featuring Hayley Kiyoko and AhhHaa.
OK Orchestra, often abbreviated as OKO, is the fourth studio album by American pop band AJR. It was released on March 26, 2021, by the band's own label AJR Productions. The album was supported by 5 singles, "Bang!", "Bummerland", "My Play", "Way Less Sad", and "World's Smallest Violin". The album was produced by group member Ryan Met.
"Way Less Sad" is a song by American pop band AJR. It was released on February 17, 2021, via the band's label AJR Productions and BMG. It was additionally released through S-Curve Records for radio airplay and through Black Butter Records for international releases. The song was the fourth single for the band's fourth studio album OK Orchestra, appearing as the twelfth track. It samples the song "My Little Town" by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel and builds off unused demos intended for Norwegian DJ Kygo and American rapper Cardi B.
"3 O'Clock Things" is a song by American pop band AJR from their fourth studio album OK Orchestra, appearing as the third track. It is the most popular non-single from the album, amassing over 43 million streams as of October 2023.
"Adventure Is Out There" is a song by American pop band AJR. It appears as the sixth track on the trio's fourth studio album, OK Orchestra. Originally being written for Neotheater, it was officially released on March 26, 2021. It uses an uptempo folk-pop instrumental while describing jealousy of an object's metaphorical freedom.
"World's Smallest Violin" is a song recorded by the American pop band AJR. It was released on March 26, 2021, as the 11th track from the band's fourth studio album OK Orchestra and as a music video. In 2022, the song became a viral song on the social media platform TikTok, with many using the ending verse and the line "I'll blow up into smithereens" as a soundbite on the site as fan edits or by throwing back to viral videos.
The Maybe Man is the fifth studio album by the American pop trio AJR. It was released on November 10, 2023, following their previous studio album OK Orchestra (2021). It is the band's first album released as part of its deal with Mercury/Republic Records. The album was met with mixed reviews.
"My Play" is a song by American pop band AJR. It was released on December 22, 2020 via S-Curve Records as the third single from the band's fourth studio album OK Orchestra.
"Record Player" is a song by American pop bands Daisy the Great and AJR. It was released on August 31, 2021 via S-Curve Records as a single from the deluxe version of Daisy the Great's second studio album All You Need Is Time.
"Maybe Man" is a song by American pop band AJR from their fifth studio album The Maybe Man, appearing as the opening track. The song was released alongside a music video on November 10, 2023, the day of the album's release.
"Karma" is a song by American pop band AJR, appearing as the eighth track on their third studio album Neotheater. It is the second-most popular song from the album, amassing over 82 million streams as of February 2024.
The Neotheater World Tour was the fourth concert tour by the American pop band AJR, supporting their third studio album, Neotheater (2019). It ran from September 20, 2019, to January 21, 2020, and covered 41 shows across Europe and North America. The set list consisted primarily of songs from Neotheater, with a few numbers from the band's second album The Click (2017) and brief appearances from their debut studio album Living Room (2015). A second leg of the Neotheater World Tour with 21 more shows was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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