The Maybe Man


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. It is the band's first album released as part of its deal with Mercury/Republic Records.

Promotion and release

In 2022, AJR embarked on a world tour in support of their fourth studio album OK Orchestra. On the tour, they performed their then-unreleased song "I Won't" as a surprise addition to the set, before releasing it as the lead single for their upcoming fifth studio album on July 29, 2022. On November 12, 2022, AJR revealed the album title's abbreviation of "TMM", fitting into the pattern "T** M**** M**". Fans immediately started posting speculative potential titles on the internet; popular theories included "The Music Men", "Ten Meter Men", and "The Manly Men". The band released the album's second single "The DJ Is Crying for Help" on November 18. The third single "The Dumb Song" was released on April 21, 2023. Its music video was released the same day, detailing the song's year-and-a-half-long creation process.
The fourth single, "God Is Really Real", was surprise-released as a music video on YouTube on July 3, 2023, along with a lyric video. While the song was originally set to be released along with the album, it was released much earlier than originally scheduled, in order to commemorate the life of their terminally ill father Gary. He died later that day. The single had an official release on July 5, 2023.
On August 27, 2023, they posted the message "Enormous news tomorrow. maybe." to their social media accounts along with a previously unveiled logo featuring the "TMM" acronym. The album's full title and release date were announced the next day in a teaser video featuring the ending of the animated music video for the album's first track, "Maybe Man". The band revealed the track list and album cover on September 11.
The fifth and final single, "Yes I'm a Mess", was released on September 29, 2023. A comedic music video, shot in Times Square, was released on October 25. On October 11, AJR announced that The Maybe Man would be delayed exactly one week from its original release date, due to "exciting opportunities" relating to the album release. The album was then released on November 10 alongside a music video for "Maybe Man". On November 29, a music video for "Inertia", the 5th song on the album, was released. On January 23, 2024, a music video for "Touchy Feely Fool", the 2nd song on the album, was released.

Songs and track listing

"Maybe Man", the album's first track, described by the band as a "table of contents" for the remaining songs, is a melancholy song with lyrics that interpolates with other songs, such as the line "I wish I was big, as big as my house..." interpolates with "Don't you like it bigger, better but you do what'cha can?" from "Inertia". "Touchy Feely Fool" is an upbeat yet reflective track that touches on the awkwardness and vulnerability of emotions, describing a rough breakup.
The album was supposed to have a thirteenth track, but it didn't make the album due to the song supposedly not fitting in with the rest of the album's theme. The brothers deemed the track too upbeat and positive for it to fit in perfectly with the rest of the songs. The track was originally supposed to be officially released with a deluxe version of The Maybe Man, however with the unveiling of the What No One's Thinking EP, the band has confirmed that the album's planned deluxe edition has since been scrapped and the follow-up EP's track "The Big Goodbye" was originally intended as the thirteenth track.

The Maybe Man Tour

On November 9, 2023, AJR announced their first arena tour to promote the album, most notably including two stops at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Tickets for the tour went on sale on November 17. A second show for MSG was announced on November 14 due to the first show being sold out on the first day of presale.
On February 13, 2024, the band announced that the supporting acts for the tour would be Mxmtoon, Dean Lewis and Almost Monday. On April 1, AJR canceled the tour's first show due to the Norfolk Scope venue being too small to accommodate the show, announcing on April 11 that it was rescheduled to June 23.
Due to high demand, Idaho Central Arena announced on their Instagram account on April 2 that the Boise show would take place at ExtraMile Arena. The previously purchased tickets for Idaho Central Arena were shifted towards the newer venue, ensuring that the tickets were still valid.
On July 8, the concert scheduled to take place at Toyota Center the next day was canceled due to the safety concerns surrounding Hurricane Beryl.
On August 8, Adam Met announced that he would not be performing with the band for the Asia shows to attend the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
As of August 2024, the tour has reportedly sold over 500,000 tickets.

Tour dates

Festivals

Set list

  1. "Maybe Man"
  2. "Sober Up"
  3. "Yes I'm a Mess"
  4. "I Won't" / "Birthday Party"
  5. "The DJ Is Crying For Help"
  6. "God Is Really Real"
  7. "The Good Part"
  8. "Bang!"
  9. "Inertia"
  10. "Touchy Feely Fool"
  11. "Karma"
  12. "Turning Out" / "Turning Out Pt. ii" / "Turning Out Pt. iii"
  13. "World's Smallest Violin"
  14. "Steve's Going To London"
  15. "Burn The House Down"
  16. How We Made / "Way Less Sad"
  17. "Don't Throw Out My Legos"
  18. "100 Bad Days"

    Encore

  19. "Weak" / "2085"

    Alterations

  • Due to Adam not being present at the Asia shows and other reasons, the beginning of "The Maybe Man", "God Is Really Real", and "2085" were cut. "Bang!", with the How We Made intro, was moved to prior "Weak", which had a marching band outro. and "The Dumb Song" was played.
  • At the Japan shows, covers of "All Star" and "I've Got No Strings" were played.

    Reception

Much like the band's previous albums, The Maybe Man was released to mixed reviews. Spectrum Cultures Thomas Stremfel criticized the album's lyricism, saying the album "barely scratch the surface of the emotional depth their songs could achieve while insisting their music is nothing to take seriously." Writing for AllMusic, Matt Collar praised the album, writing, "With The Maybe Man, AJR continue to turn their personal pain and anxieties into universally relatable pop anthems." Exclaim! listed the album cover as 17th worst of the year, writing: "You've entered a wormhole to 2008 — your only tools for survival are a moustache finger tattoo, a copy of Amélie, a voucher for free puppetry lessons and this album cover. Good luck."

Personnel

AJR
Technical
Additional musicians
  • Rob Piccione – additional vocals, backing vocals, vocals, guitar
  • Ruth Kornblatt-Stier – cello
  • Emelia Suljic – violin
  • Arnetta Johnson – trumpet
  • Chris Berry – vocals, drums, backing vocals, cello
  • Dane Hagen – vocals, guitar, backing vocals
  • Ezra Donellan – vocals, backing vocals
  • Austin Roa – vocals
  • Josh Plotner – woodwinds
  • The Beu Sisters – backing vocals
  • Kent Lucas – backing vocals, vocals
  • Ryan Chernin – backing vocals
  • Chloe Brettholtz – additional vocals
  • Andrew Sobelsohn – guitar, vocals ; backing vocals
  • Martin Lieberman – vocals, backing vocals
  • Cat Capps – vocals, additional vocals, backing vocals
  • Alba Avoricani – vocals, backing vocals
  • Honore Balan – vocals
  • Nell Balan – vocals
  • Ariel Gendler – vocals, backing vocals
  • Jabari Golding – vocals
  • Zachary Murphy – vocals
  • Benjamin Hostetler – vocals
  • Eugene Mahlstadt – vocals
  • Katrina Udle – vocals
  • Natasha Bermudez – vocals
  • Adam Tomlinson – backing vocals, vocals
  • Amanda Wierbowski – backing vocals
  • Eric Holloway – vocals
  • Naia Lika – additional vocals
  • Daniel Cruz – vocals
  • Robert Hanley – vocals
  • Kevin Grammer – vocals
  • Jiliane Russo – vocals
  • Sarah Piccione – vocals
  • Kevin Urban – Intro Announcer

    Charts