Feeling Beautiful And Rested With Blondshell
It’s no secret that we adore Blondshell.
From her self-titled debut album to her latest release Violins, Sabrina Teitelbaum aka Blondshell has made it very clear that she’s working it all out, out loud. Her music is deeply personal & heartachingly relatable, tender, tragic, moving, and honest. Each listen peels back another layer and reveals a little more, asking us to come a little closer, to surrender ourselves to the overwhelming emotion of it all, from highest highs to lowest lows and everything in between. Violins will simultaneously make you weep and make you feel like you could kick down doors. It’s girlcore at its finest, and it’s triumphant.
We’re highkey obsessed with the film clip for the title track, Violins – it’s like if the dance studio scene from Madonna’s “Hung Up” (2005) was a fever dream directed by David Lynch filmed in The Backrooms. Visually arresting, it will linger long after the last bar. Meanwhile, Stonefruit is giving The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche (1833) and that’s our Halloween costume sorted.
We asked Sabrina to answer Astrophe’s 24 Questions (plus a couple of extras).
Violins is out now Partisan.
(voice note)
what did you learn about yourself during the process of making violins ?
I learn a lot about what I’m capable of when I’m in the studio. I get a lot of confidence from doing it. And patience…
if violins was a colour, what colour would it be ?
Pale pink and faded black and white.
how do you know when something is finished & how do you mark the completion of a project ? do you have any little rituals ?
That’s the hardest part of the whole thing for me. I don’t think something is ever fully finished, you just decide when you’re comfortable stopping. I could obsess over details forever.
I don’t have any rituals, but I’ve found comfort in focusing on the bigger picture lately. The truth is most people don’t notice the details we obsess over.
do you make music to better understand yourself, or to help other people understand you ?
I think I make music to better understand my feelings, yeah. I don’t think about other people when I’m making songs, so it’s never with the hope of someone else understanding me, but sometimes that’s a nice after effect.
Music definitely gives me a lot of clarity about my own feelings and puts a bit of a bow on them.
what’s your biggest vice
Anxiety probably. I have to let go of it. I think anxiety acts as a little scaffolding for your fears and it can become a vice in and of itself. It takes a lot of bravery to let go of it when you can.
(written)
can you describe the last dream you remember
I had a dream in Brighton that I was multiple baby potatoes in a skillet… Kind of cozy and kind of scary. I think it’s because I fell asleep next to a bottle of room temperature milk provided by the hotel.
what's the last tarot card you pulled
I never do tarot.
where do you seek comfort
At home. I’m a Taurus through and through. I love hot showers and fresh sheets, tea, candles, rain, all of those things.
what are you hyper-fixated on at the moment
Historical docuseries’.
what is the last piece of music you want to hear before its lights out
I have a playlist called Sleeping in a Difficult Place to Sleep, which is for trying to rest on the road. It has Julee Cruise, Hiroshi Yoshimura, Cowboy Junkies, Duster.
what makes you rage
When people are aggressive at the airport.
what’s your most tightly held belief
This is so duh, but I just really do believe in love having the power to heal.
what is your most prized possession
I think my mom’s necklace, which I wrote about in a song called Lucky on the new record.
what book(s) and / or album(s) are required reading for a good life
Hot take, but whatever you enjoy. For me there was quite a bit of required reading in the memoir department to normalize my own brain. I needed some representation.
what’s the last thing that made you properly laugh
My dog will randomly smile. He has a human smile and actually makes the shape with his mouth. That cracks me up every time.
what is the last thing you googled
Showtimes for Primetime in my neighborhood.
what do you miss the most about being a teenager
There was romance in everything. I found so many bands that made me feel drunk. I have such a distinct memory of thinking “I will feel nostalgic about this later” when I would smoke with my friends on my roof and listen to music. I was right.
what’s the most woo woo thing you’ve ever done
Meditating on wishing the best for my opps.
what did your childhood bedroom look like
So boring! We moved around a bit and so it was always somewhat bland. I never really did the posters thing. I tried once and it looked bad so I took them all down.
what piece of art has made the biggest impact on you
Oh gosh. I’d really have to think about it. It changes year to year. My favorite book this year was Famesick [by Lena Dunham]. I think I’ll give that a thorough reread every year moving forward.
what would you like to be reincarnated as
A dolphin in a wonderful pod or maybe a well watered blade of grass.
who is your biggest inspiration
Inspiration is more about feelings than people for me. I think life has an endless capacity to provide you with things to talk about.
do you believe in god
Sometimes? I have a tough time with the word, but I like the concept.
what’s your favourite idiom
I love to say we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Maybe I am a procrastinator.
what is your relationship to the internet
The internet makes me spiritually nauseated and I’m working on leaving it the hell alone!
leave us with one piece of advice, babe
Don’t respond to messages when you’re angry. Let that shit marinate.
words by Isabelle Webster / images by Reese Layton / See more from Blondshell here / Stream Violins here
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