BLONDSHELL - If You Asked For A Picture

Many of us were hoping for a good album from Sabrina Teitelbaum. Her self-titled debut two years ago was welcomed very positively by international critics, and helped build fairly high expectations for the future: yet another singer-songwriter with a guitar, sure, but one who showed distinctive traits capable of setting her apart from the rest of the pack. “If You Asked For A Picture”, her second record released under the Blondshell name (after an early career spent going by Baum), proves to be even more effective, consistent, focused and considered. Twelve songs, at least half of which venture into territory bordering on excellence, while the other half are still the kind of songs any singer-songwriter would aspire to write, with an alt-pop base enriched by intriguing indie-rock twists. The album opens with “Thumbtack”, a prologue that starts off soft and acoustic before soon rippling into something rougher, serving as a perfect summary of what's to come across the rest of the record.

The first songs to really hit the mark are the jagged, rounded alt-rock edges of “T&A” and “23's a Baby”, which reveal Blondshell's most energetically 90s-leaning side. The guitars are also front and center on tracks like “What's Fair”, “Toy” and “He Wants Me”, but the American singer-songwriter places her most astonishing moments halfway through the record, when “Event Of A Fire” unfolds through an emotional crescendo that distills the anguish voiced by Ethel Cain within the grooves of “Preacher's Daughter” alongside the vocal delivery of Dolores O'Riordan, the latter a recurring reference point across much of the record. All of it laid over a musical fabric driven by guitars reminiscent of U2, for a brand of soft-rock that effectively fuses the United States and Ireland. Even more striking is what happens in the preceding track, “Two Times”, where Sabrina alternates verses sung - once again - in Cranberries mode with choruses heavily inspired by the style of Taylor Swift, so much so that it almost feels like a surprise feature, with thoroughly compelling results.

Blondshell thus draws on highly popular reference points, with no fear of showing them off, filtered through years and years of compulsive listening. She then plays her cards in a way that still lands on something personal, with the main themes running through the record touching on the struggles of romantic and interpersonal relationships, her relationship with her own body, the complicated and formative reckoning with her mother, who passed away in 2018, and her struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder and alcohol dependency. The result is a genuine record, at times aching, yet radio-friendly in sound - one of the best works to come out of the indie scene in this early stretch of 2025, blending grungy guitars, bright melodies and dysfunctional stories. It's the exam, brilliantly passed, of an excellent student who has managed to gather up a wealth of influences to build her own musical world and hand it over to all of us.

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13/05/2025