Connor Nelson Gets Brutally Honest on “Bored”

Let’s be real, most of us have been there. You break up with someone, swear you’re fine, and before you know it, you’re lining up distractions like emotional fast food. That’s exactly the headspace Connor Nelson dives into with his latest single “Bored,” a slick and painfully relatable pop track that cuts through the post-breakup haze with brutal honesty.

Connor doesn’t just sing about heartbreak; he dissects it. “Bored” captures that weird in-between moment when you’re not ready to move on, but being alone feels worse. Instead of pretending everything’s fine, he admits to the late-night texts, the meaningless hangouts, the temporary highs that never really fill the void. It’s the soundtrack to avoidance, wrapped in pristine pop production and anchored by his flawless vocals.

This is the same Connor Nelson whose voice made its way into Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia, landing him Shazam chart placements in nine countries. The same artist praised by Tate McRae, Conan Gray, Jessie J, and Fefe Dobson. And yet, despite the numbers, sync placements, and chart stats, his music never feels calculated; it’s raw, vulnerable, and uncomfortably self-aware.

“Bored” is the kind of track that makes you confront your own habits. It’s catchy enough to loop for hours, but heavy enough to make you think twice about why you’re doing what you’re doing. Connor sums it up best himself: “Trying to fill the void with other people after a breakup doesn’t really help you heal, it’s a temporary fix.”

With his sophomore EP dropping in 2026, “Bored” proves Connor Nelson isn’t just chasing pop trends; he’s rewriting them. Precision, honesty, and killer hooks. That’s the formula. And honestly? It works.

“Bored” feels like an anthem for emotional avoidance. What was going through your head when you wrote it, and how much of it comes from personal experience?

I wrote “Bored” about having a crush on someone who didn’t know I existed. Fantasizing about what it would be like to be with them, and blending that idea with the harsh reality that I will never get to be with this person. It all very much comes from personal experience, as I think we’ve all romanticized the idea of being with someone, even though we know it will never happen.

You’ve been praised by some major artists and even landed a sync on Ginny & Georgia.

How do you stay grounded and authentic when your career is clearly leveling up fast?

Thank you! I think it’s important to surround yourself with the people and things that make you feel most like yourself. When I'm not making music, I'm probably playing video games or reading a murder mystery novel, because I love to do those things and they fill my soul. When you’re constantly working towards a goal with no rest, it’s easy to lose yourself, so taking time to reconnect with yourself is vital.

There’s this tension in “Bored” between needing connection and knowing it’s not real.

Do you think today’s hookup culture makes it harder for people to actually heal?

Oooh, this is juicy! This might be a hot take, but I think it does, but then again, I can argue the question of whether we are ever actually healed? I think it also depends on how you heal, because healing isn’t linear, and it looks different for everybody. For me, spending time with myself, seeing my friends, and doing my favourite things helps me heal. For somebody else, it could be going on a hike or something. How you choose to heal is different for everybody, and there’s so much nuance to it.

As someone who writes, sings, and produces your own music, what’s the biggest advantage, and the hardest part, of being fully in control of your sound?

The biggest advantage is having full creative freedom. I can visualize and see the potential in a song I'm writing, and I'm able to execute that through my own production and through working with other producers. The hardest part is not taking criticism personally, especially when you’re at the helm of everything. I grew up doing singing competitions and receiving feedback. I have thick skin, but I'm still human. When a sound or a lyric doesn’t align with someone, it’s easy to take it personally and feel like you’re not good at what you do, but it’s important to recognize that art is subjective. One person might love the vocoder in the chorus of “Bored,” and one person might not like it; no negative feedback should make you question your talent and your worth.

Your debut EP, Red Mountain Light, showed your storytelling side. How does your

upcoming 2026 project push your artistry or reveal something new about who you are

now?

For my next project, I really wanted to focus on “what sets me apart?” and the answer is my

voice and my vocal ability. This next project is more vocal-centric; I'm doing lots of vocal

acrobatics, and I want to show off more of my personality through vocal delivery and

production. I’m going full-throttle into the pop world and showing everybody more of my

personality and what I'm capable of.