Are You Bored Yet? ft. Clairo

“Are You Bored Yet?” is the fourth track from indie-pop American band Wallows and their debut album “Nothing Happens”. The track also features vocals from bed-pop vocalist and songwriter Clairo (real name Claire Cottrill).

The track was written by members of Wallows – “13 Reasons Why” actor Dylan Minnette, musician Cole Preston, actor Braeden Lemasters and singer Clairo. Speaking to clashmusic.com, Wallows also explained the meaning behind the lyrics: “Lyrically the song is about the idea of someone being bored with a relationship that you have been in for a while, and the fear that you or the other person is ready to move on.” In an interview with FLOOD magazine, band member Cole Preston also spoke about why “Are You Bored Yet?” was chosen to be the album’s first single. “There’s a lot of different elements from the album in that song… The record goes a lot of places that track doesn’t. “Are You Bored Yet” is a nice, digestible, easy-to-listen-to, and relatable song in comparison to a lot of the other songs on the album. Lyrically, a lot of them are in a darker place and more vague in the narration. It’s a nice way to introduce the album to the world.”

The band also spoke to music publication Genius.com about the track in an interview on their website:

Genius: According to Cole, what was going on when Wallows wrote this?

Wallows: “Are You Bored Yet?” happened after my very good friend Paul Chiba spilled a bunch of wine on my computer. It had all my demos on it and stuff. But I was lucky enough to get a new computer because of Apple Care. And then the first demo that I put into my brand new Logic Pro X was the seedling of “Are You Bored Yet?” And then these guys came over to my house when I was living at USC and we put it all together.

G: According to Dylan, what inspired the lyrics?

W: We didn’t tell her what we wanted it to be lyrically. She knew what it was about. But she ended up just writing it, making it her own, and it made so much sense to me. If I’m this male narrator, then this is the girl in the relationship, and she is explaining that from her end, everything’s great. “I feel so happy in this. I can see that you don’t, I’m willing to make this work.” And then the song wraps in a sort of a bitter note really because the narrator’s still saying and sort of admitting “I do feel this way.” I liked the back and forth between the two people in the relationship in the song.

G: Why does Cole thing Clairo was perfect for this song?

W: The first time we made the demo on the laptop, the second verse, I think, we had the idea that we wanted it to be a female voice. At first we thought it’d just be cool, A, for just hearing someone else in the album and, B, just cause we haven’t done that before, and I think it’d be a cool touch to the song.
That’s how it started, and it sort of had this bedroom pop kind of feel, the demo, and then it gave us a vibe of “Pretty Girl” by Clairo. And then when we pitched up my voice. There’s a couple of reasons why her name clicked in our head. We were fans.

The music video for “Are You Bored Yet?” was released alongside the audio on the 1st February 2019. Directed by Drew Kirsch, it features Wallows at a karaoke bar, where everyone seems to know the lyrics to “Are You Bored Yet?”, the audience lip-syncing some of the verses themselves. It features a cameo from well-known social media presence and actor Noah Centineo, who plays the role of an emotionless barman. As of October 2019, the music video has over 6.8 million views and over 267 thousand likes.

Release Date: 1st February 2019

Songwriter/s: Dylan Minnette, Cole Preston, Clairo & Braeden Lemasters

Producer: John Congleton

Label/s: Atlantic Records & Warner Music

Music Video Release Date: 1st February 2019

Music Video Director: Drew Kirsch

Chart Rankings: The “Nothing Happens” album hit , hitting #75 in the US Billboard 200 chart, #23 in the US Billboard Digital Albums chart, #9 in the US Billboard Top Album Sales,#8 in the US Billboard Top Alternative Albums, #13 in the US Billboard Top Rock Albums, #2 in the US Billboard Top Tastemaker Albums, and lastly #3 on the US Billboard Vinyl Albums.

The lyrics to “Are You Bored Yet?” can be accessed here: LINK