Sabrina Teitelbaum, now known as Blondshell, has emerged with songwriting that confronts deep emotions head-on with an eponymous debut record that’s an unapologetically raw show of strength in vulnerability. Blondshell uses this capability to explore and acknowledge past traumas in self-assured ways that render them powerless.
Taking lyrical cues from The National, Teitelbaum decamped from her hometown of New York City to California to join up with, then flee, USC’s Pop Program but not without first studying classic and jazz theories within this Pop-centric shell. Realizing Pop was not a realm in which she fits, Teitelbaum embraced intensity, churning out songs free of limiting self-consciousness. “It was me, as a person, in my songs,” she says. When she showed a few to producer Yves Rothman, he encouraged her to write an album, joining a chorus of friends saying, “This is you.” This timing coincided with her finding sobriety, compounding the veracity of her songwriting. “There was a rush of really intense emotions,” she says. “I was going through a lot of things that put me in a position to be as honest as possible.”
The additional timing of the pandemic slowdown gave Teitelbaum time to study the musical turning point that was Grunge, taking in Nirvana and Hole, and reading the works of other truth-tellers - Patti Smith and Rebecca Solnit.
Opening track “Veronica Mars,” a stripped-down retrospective on the allure of bad men in an art imitating life and vice versa early-aughts scenario strengthens into shrieking guitars before giving way to dreamy electric ballad “Kiss City.” First single “Olympus” is a self-realization of needing to save oneself from addiction and how such things can transfer themselves from substances to people if you’re not careful. “Salad” arrives as an omen and “Sepsis” explores boundary-setting as an exercise in recovering one’s power over the toxicity of others. All arrive with honesty. “I always want to make people feel like they have more power and control and peace because I know what it feels like to want that for myself. I know how music has helped me get there,” she says. “What I’ve realized I need to do is write realistically, and try to not bring shame into the writing. Each song gave me more confidence. I hope the songs help people in that way, too.”
Blondshell hits the road in July for an extensive headlining tour and will accompany Liz Phair on a plethora of dates in the fall while listeners of The Current, Lightning 100, KPND, KUTX and more are spreading Blondshell’s music far and wide.
