With their sun-soaked and surfy seduction “The Boredom,” Palm Desert’s pen pin have penned anthem dwelling in life’s doldrums – and the world is a little bit sweeter for it.
follow our Today’s Song(s) playlist
Stream: “The Boredom” – pen pin
The boredom is coming for you, like it or not. You’ve been looking for something fun that makes you feel like you’re still alive…
Palm Desert’s pen pin have penned anthem dwelling in life’s doldrums (say that sentence ten times fast), and the world is a little bit sweeter for it. A brooding, sun-soaked and surfy seduction, “The Boredom” is an ode to those slower moments of laze and lackadaisical malaise.
It’s the sobering acceptance that life is not, and can never be, one big high; in fact, we need those lows in order to appreciate the highs – and while it may not be euphoric to feel drained or low on dopamine, there’s nothing wrong with those spaces in-between.
Wake up early in the morning
but it’s afternoon
Feeling like you’d rather be
anywhere but your room
Every week is just a day
that you will have to choose
Every day is just a thing
that you forgot to do
Released September 29, 2023 via Colored Pencils, “The Boredom” is pen pin’s second single of the year (following August’s “Fringe”) and their fourth overall career song. The SoCal duo of songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeni Magana and Emily Moore, pen pin (pronounced “pin pin”) make melodic and moody indie pop that stuns the ears, stirs the soul, and inevitably leaves a bittersweet taste on the tongue. Their forthcoming debut album Pony Up, set for release in Spring 2024, is billed as a record holding onto happiness and friendship – and, we suppose, leaning into those quieter, cathartic moments of reflection and repose.
“The Boredom” isn’t a happy song, nor is it necessarily melancholic; rather, pen pin dazzle the ears and soothe the mind through glistening, golden-hued melodies the induce soft smiles. Their lyrics are unfiltered and vulnerable – brutally honest to a T – and their delivery is utterly dreamy:
Everyone’s in technicolor
but it’s not for you
Not depression, not the question,
you don’t have the blues
More like floating lacking motive
when there’s shit to do
Endless summer life’s a bummer
when you just can’t move
Endless summer life’s a bummer when you just can’t move…
The Boredom is coming for you, like it or not
You’ve been looking for something fun
That makes you feel like you’re still alive
“‘The Boredom’ is about the perils of low levels of dopamine,” pen pin tell Atwood Magazine. “I hope it serves as a reminder not to be too hard on ourselves when we find ourselves scrolling through our phones yet again, without knowing how we got there. ‘The Boredom’ isn’t necessarily evil, but it’s a character that you might not always want around yet seems to show up when you least expect it, anyway.”
“In the music video, ‘The Boredom’ is portrayed as a literal cardboard monster: Killer of vibe, robber of joy. It depicts two friends on the beach enjoying their life, and then contrasts the same scenes with The Boredom nearby, casting a negative hue on the same experience. We all have a little tussle with The Boredom now and then, but maybe we can view it as an old, slightly annoying friend.”
The next time you’re feeling those doldrums coming on, give “The Boredom” a spin; you just might find that pen pin’s ode to stagnation stirs up a frenzy inside, and the gloom subsides as quickly as it came. There’s loads more sun-soaked, chill indie pop “pinspiration” to come from this duo in the months ahead, but for now we don’t mind dwelling in the depths of “The Boredom” – all things considered, it’s a pretty nice place to be.
With a dreamy, gorgeous sound and thought-provoking lyrics, pen pin are without a doubt a duo to pay close attention to in 2024 and beyond!
The Boredom is coming for you, like it or not
You’ve been looking for something fun
That makes you feel like you’re still alive
— —
:: stream/purchase The Boredom here ::
:: connect with pen pin here ::
Stream: “The Boredom” – pen pin
— — — —
Connect to pen pin on
Twitter, TikTok, Instagram
Discover new music on Atwood Magazine
© courtesy of the band
© courtesy of the band
:: Today’s Song(s) ::
follow our daily playlist on Spotify
:: Stream pen pin ::
