The poppy sounds of AJR gain some real-life resonance with ‘The Maybe Man’

“But we felt like, oh, this is our job right now,” he said. “This is going to help us process (things). It’s going to help the fans process if they ever have to go through stuff like this, to capture it as immediate and urgently as possible.”

Credit: (Courtesy of Austin Roa)

Credit: (Courtesy of Austin Roa)

The most challenging of the heavy things the New York City band was processing was a cancer diagnosis for Gary Metzger, the father of the sibling trio (who shortened their last names to Met for the purposes of their careers). Sadly, their dad succumbed to the disease in July 2023.

Metzger’s illness is directly addressed on the album in the song “God Is Really Real” to devastating effect. Just consider these lines early in the song: “I gotta leave for Paris now/My band goes on at 10/And my dad can’t get out of bed.” It’s a prime example of AJR capturing their emotions in real time.

“It happened when we were on tour and that’s when we wrote “God is Really Real,” recalled Jack Met, who joined Ryan for the interview. “We wrote it two days after, no, the next day after. He was in the hospital. We didn’t even know what his diagnosis was yet. The emotions were raw. It was about eight months until he passed, which was definitely the toughest eight months of our lives. Obviously, we think about him every day. It’s really, really tough.”

Metzger had unfailingly supported his sons in their AJR venture. The brothers started out by busking in New York City in 2005 (Jack, now 27, hadn’t hit double digits at the time), and soon began writing songs.

AJR’s big break came in the early 201Os after writing “I’m Ready” — a song the brothers felt combined their varied influences, ranging from Simon & Garfunkel and the Beatles to hip-hop and Broadway musicals — into something unique. That song caught the attention of pop star Sia, who alerted her manager, Jonathan Daniel, to the group. Daniel, in turn, contacted Steve Greenberg, head of S-Curve Records, who signed on as AJR’s co-manager and helped the brothers launch their own label.

Since then, things have taken off. “I’m Ready” got regular airplay on satellite radio, and in 2016, AJR’s third EP, “What Everyone’s Thinking,” spawned a platinum-selling hit single in “Weak.” The band’s popularity has grown steadily since, as three subsequent full-length albums have added five more platinum singles, including the 2020 top 10 hit “Bang!”

All of which brings things to “The Maybe Man” and the emotional challenges the Met brothers experienced while writing and recording it.

While their father’s ordeal is part of the story, “The Maybe Man” as a whole is built around a broader theme of reaching one’s late 20s and early 30s and realizing that life is getting more real and there are serious responsibilities that come with becoming a full-fledged adult. And, of course, dealing with a loved one’s death will cause someone to grapple with the reality that life is short and it can end at any time.

Ryan and Jack believe “The Maybe Man” is AJR’s most serious album yet. But as a band that has consistently created cheerful, highly catchy — and often quite innovative — songs, it’s no surprise that it does not feel like a downer, especially on a musical level.

Yes, “God Is Really Real” and “Turning Out Pt. iii” are melancholy ballads, and the song “Maybe Man” starts the album on a somewhat subdued, albeit pretty, note. But things brighten, as lively songs such as “Yes, I’m A Mess,” “The Dumb Song,” “Hole in the Bottom of My Brain” and even “Inertia” (about living in a static state) deliver the playful, buoyant sound AJR fans have come to expect.

Now that AJR are continuing an extensive tour in support of “The Maybe Man” this summer, fans can expect a show that includes songs from the album while incorporating older hits and album tracks that have been popular with fans, along with plenty of visual bells and whistles.

“We finally have the money and the budget to play with where we can create magical illusions and a real Broadway narrative and real cinematic CGI,” Ryan said. “I don’t want to give away too much, but (we have) a lot of crazy stuff we know you’ve never seen on stage before.”

IF YOU GO

AJR

6:20 p.m. Monday. With Goth Babe, Riley Tate Wilson, Cavetown and Valley. $40.50-$179.01. Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, 2200 Encore Parkway, Alpharetta. ticketmaster.com.