Tessa Violet Steps Up Her Game With "Bored" Music Video

Few artists in the music industry can continuously deliver consistent and enjoyable music videos, and even fewer can step above and beyond to create a video which is artwork in its own right. With the release of the “Bored” music video on April 18th, indie-pop icon Tessa Violet joins that elite list. As an homage to what has become a common experience with self-isolation, the video shows her locked in a bedroom with only an old computer, as she slowly devolves into madness doing the same things over and over again.

Tessa Violet jumped into the indie-pop scene with the release of her single ‘Crush’ in June of 2018; which has over 50 million plays on Spotify and has helped catapult her career. Violet took a major step forward with the release of her debut album “Bad Ideas” in October of 2019, which featured “Bored” among other bouncy and creative tunes such as “Feelin” and “Wishful Drinking.”

“Bored” is fantastic; even without the music video to pair. The song features multiple danceable and powerful musical backlines, while the lyrics hit home as part of a relatable and very poetic masterclass in songwriting. At the end of the first verse, Violet sings “Excited with my words” then changes the cadence to be more reminiscent of her anxiety as she finishes the line with “But I'm nervous and I’m bored” as the word bored is echoed by more voices and a kicking horn melody drops, sending the listener into frenzy. The song features moments like this throughout, as Violet continually churns out relatable and well written lyrics such as “I’d feel good if only I could finish what I start” and “My new habit of the week / Sayin sorry when I speak” to create a killer song.

Violet is no newcomer to the world of creative music videos, having impressed with “Crush” and “Bad Ideas” in the past, but the “Bored” video is on another level of creative thinking and artistic vision. The video begins with her computer booting up, as Violet wakes up excited for a day in her tiny box room. Excited for what lies ahead, she happily plays chess, makes music, reads a book, and puts on makeup alongside her technological companion. She dances out the first chorus and falls into bed, as the tone of the video shifts dramatically and we are made aware of her inability to sleep, likely caused by the anxiety and pressures of living indoors, personified by hands which disallow her to sit still and rest. She wakes up tentatively as the second chorus begins, questioning the motives of her computer and clearly not excited by the activities she enjoyed at the beginning. Violet’s motives become more cynical as the breakdown begins, revealing her wide awake in a darkened room staring at the computer, as uneasiness sets in and the hands return. In the final chorus Violet snaps and finds out that she has been living in a simulation the whole time, with fake clouds drawn on the window, and pictures which replace themselves after being taken down. She devolves into madness as the video transitions from a close up shot of her in delirium to a zoom out shot of her angrily watching the computer.

The video is expertly done in all aspects, from the changing shots and lighting, to the simple but thorough plot, and even Violet’s ability to convey a lot of very dense emotions on camera. Additionally, Violet has capitalized on the fact that this situation is relatable to almost everyone, as social distancing guidelines have forced masses into the solidarity of their homes. Music videos like this do not come often, as I have found that only artists such as Joyner Lucas or Hozier have the creativity and skill required to create a video which is both visually appealing and culturally apparent. In a system where music videos typically play second fiddle to songs, Tessa Violet delivers a visual which is skillfully created to be both undeniably enjoyable and incredibly important.