Pick of the Week: Waxahatchee “Bored”

By Nora Onanian, Web Services Coordinator

Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield has never been one to shy away from singing about the unglamorous. From her 2012 debut album onwards, her lyrics have traversed everything from relationships gone sour to substance dependency. Where some falter — over-glamorizing or oversimplifying — Crutchfield brings a dignified voice to such issues, her poetic writing style both open to interpretation and emotionally perspicuous. 

“Bored,” a standout single off of Waxahatchee’s first solo album in four years, Tigers Blood, sees this power of hers continue to flourish, this time with revitalized energy and wisdom.

THE MAKING OF TIGERS BLOOD

As the follow-up to her most financially successful record, Saint Cloud (2020), and four other highly acclaimed studio albums, some might expect Waxahatchee to have felt a pressure on her shoulders to achieve greatness with her sixth LP. But on Tigers Blood, there is — surprisingly — a palpable lightness. Crutchfield’s vocals are relaxed, her lyrics and voice demonstrating her new perspective on life. 

For the making of Tigers Blood, Crutchfield worked with previous collaborator, producer Brad Cook (Hurray for the Riff Raff; Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats). Cook helped Waxahatchee bring out her most Southern-tinged sound to date on Saint Cloud, an aesthetic choice that carries over onto this new LP. 

Waxahatchee also brought in some newer collaborators. Multi-instrumentalist MJ Lenderman (a member of Asheville-based alt-rock outlet Wednesday) joined in the early recording stages, singing on lead single “Right Back To It.” Other backing talent on this latest project include Spencer Tweedy, son of Wilco frontman Jeffy Tweedy, on drums, and brothers Phil and Brad Cook covering other instrumental bases, from guitar to synths. 

From the rhythmic and vigorous guitar-strumming that begins “Bored” to the strong percussion that carries throughout “3 Sisters,” Tigers Blood is sonically fleshed out. A long way from the lo-fi, bare sound on Crutchfield’s debut, it highlights her significant sonic evolution over the past twelve years, and cements her place as a powerhouse singer-songwriter.

WAXAHATCHEE DEMONSTRATES AN AVERSION TO APATHY ON “BORED”

Much like Lana Del Rey, Waxahatchee sings on “Bored” that she feels “stuck in a video game.” The singers use a video game metaphor to describe flaws in their relationships. 

In her song “Video Games,” Del Rey paints a one-sided relationship dynamic, where she goes to great lengths to earn her lover’s affection. Yet, the song never progresses beyond the decision to stay devoted to him. 

Crutchfield, on the other hand, averts the apathy of her partner, who she sings needs her to “fill up [their] empty cup.” In short fragments of lines, Crutchfield sifts through metaphors, anecdotes and emotions to paint the way the game she’s playing feels “rigged.” 

In the chorus, she sings “My spine's a rotted two-by-four. Barely hanging on. My benevolence just hits the floor.” The lines set up her repetition of the title line, “I get bored,” to imply a decision to move on from this dysfunctional dynamic.

Though one of the more simple and repetitive songs on Waxahatchee’s new album, the wisdom she gets across through the lyrics nonetheless feels willful.