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Sabrina Mae Teitelbaum, better known as Blondshell, is an American indie rock singer, songwriter and musician based in Los Angeles, California. Following an early pop-leaning career under the name BAUM, Teitelbaum debuted Blondshell in June 2022 with the single "Olympus". She has toured with acts including Suki Waterhouse, Horsegirl, and Porridge Radio and has performed at South by Southwest, Austin City Limits Music Festival, and on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Her self-titled debut album was released on April 7, 2023 via Partisan Records, receiving positive reviews.

Early life

[edit]

Teitelbaum was born in New York City to Doug Teitelbaum, chairman of NJOY,[2][3] and grew up in Midtown Manhattan.[4][5] Her father is Jewish while her birth mother converted to Judaism; the family attended a Reform synagogue and celebrated Jewish holidays, and Teitelbaum received a bat mitzvah.[6][7][8] She was largely raised by her father,[9][6][5] as her birth mother was not present during her childhood and died in January 2018.[6][7] Her maternal grandfather is hedge fund manager Randall Smith.[10] She has two siblings, an older sister and a twin brother, as well as two step-siblings from her father's second marriage.[5] Growing up, she often watched the show Curb Your Enthusiasm and the stand-up comedy of Sarah Silverman.[8]

Blondshell at Rough Trade in May 2023

Teitelbaum wrote songs and took singing lessons from the age of 7,[3] and began performing in elementary school.[11] Her father exposed her to classic rock[4][5][6] and took her to her first concerts: The Rolling Stones's 2005 performance at Madison Square Garden on their A Bigger Bang Tour, and a Cher show in Las Vegas.[2][5] Seeing Jersey Boys on Broadway was also a formative musical experience for her, as were Adele's 19 and Amy Winehouse's Back to Black albums, which she learned to play on piano.[6] In high school, she performed her songs at school talent shows,[6] was in several bands (including one with classmate Blu DeTiger), and attended shows and open mics at Lower East Side clubs with the help of a fake ID.[4]

Teitelbaum attended Dalton School for high school;[5][6] she has described her high school experience as "kind of catty, intense"[12] and said that "music was my hideaway" during that time.[4] After graduating, the 18-year-old Teitelbaum moved to Los Angeles in 2015.[4][13] There, she attended the USC Thornton School of Music and majored in songwriting with the school's Pop Music Program, before dropping out after two years to pursue music.[4][5][6][13] Her studies at USC Thornton included classical, jazz harmony, Motown, and music theory.[14][15]

Career

[edit]

BAUM (2017–2020)

[edit]

Teitelbaum had posted songs to SoundCloud as early as 2014.[16] After leaving USC Thornton, Teitelbaum began her music career under the name BAUM. She released three singles in 2017: "First",[17] "Hot Water",[18][19][20] and "Effortless", the latter of which was premiered by Wonderland.[21][11] The release of "Hot Water" was marked with an August 2017 concert at Rockwood Music Hall in New York.[22] In February 2018, she released the single "This Body", a body positivity-themed song which was premiered by Billboard[3] and Nylon[23] and was used by Target for their "No Body Like Mine" campaign.[24][25] Initially teasing a debut album entitled First for a spring 2018 release,[20] she instead released the EP Ungodly on March 16, 2018, with production by Oak Felder proteges The Orphanage (Trevor Brown and Zaire Koalo), who had previously co-produced Demi Lovato's "Sorry Not Sorry").[3] That same month, she performed at South by Southwest, her first festival appearance,[12][11] and was featured on the festival's official 2018 playlist.[26] She was scheduled to perform in April at Boston's Middle East nightclub with singer Dagny but cancelled due to bronchitis.[27] She was on Spotify's curated playlists "Out Now" and "Young & Free".[25]

Teitelbaum was inactive for much of the year that followed, in part due to personal turmoil including her mother's death, a breakup with her boyfriend, and a split with her manager.[7][25][17] She returned in May 2019 with the single "Fuckboy",[24][17][28] followed in August by "Bad Kid", whose music video was filmed in Iceland.[25][7][29] "Fuckboy" was intended as the lead single of a second, longer EP, entitled Curve, to be released that fall, and a music video was filmed for a planned third single, "Girls Who Like You",[17][7][30] although neither ultimately materialized. Another single, a cover of Mac Miller's "Dunno", was released on December 3, 2019.[31][32]

Blondshell (2020–present)

[edit]

Teitelbaum had long been unhappy with her pop direction as Baum, later saying "I never loved the name and I never felt fully confident in the music."[5] In early 2020, she told producer Yves Rothman (Yves Tumor, Sunflower Bean, Girlpool), who had been working with her on Curve, that she no longer wanted to release the EP. Rothman asked to hear what else she had been working on, and upon hearing her acoustic demo of the song "Olympus", encouraged her to write more songs in that vein.[4][5][6] Teitelbaum began writing what became her debut Blondshell album in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5][6] She and her sister came up with the name Blondshell over dinner.[13][33]

Teitelbaum debuted Blondshell in June 2022 with the single release of "Olympus", premiered via Nylon.[2][34] A second Blondshell single, "Kiss City", was released the next month,[35] reaching over 900,000 Spotify streams and garnering praise from Rolling Stone and The New York Times.[5] A live performance of the song became popular on TikTok.[36] Teitelbaum simultaneously announced July and September tour dates with Horsegirl and Porridge Radio.[37][35] The singles "Sepsis" and "Veronica Mars" were released in August and December, respectively.[38][39][40] In December, Teitelbaum performed at New York's Mercury Lounge[5] and signed with Partisan Records, which had become aware of her via SoundCloud;[41][42][6] she had previously been courted by Atlantic Records.[43] In October, she appeared at the 2022 Austin City Limits Music Festival alongside Teezo Touchdown, Omar Apollo, and Wet Leg.[44] It was also announced that she would join the 2023 Primavera Sound festival in Madrid and Barcelona.[45]

While touring with actress/singer Suki Waterhouse in January 2023, Teitelbaum released her first single on Partisan, "Joiner".[46][42] The Waterhouse tour included stops at the El Rey and Fonda theatres in Los Angeles and at South by Southwest;[6][13][41] at the latter, Blondshell performed at Spin's Five Worlds party, sponsored by Diageo, alongside Urban Heat and Chulita Vinyl Club.[47] Also at SXSW, Teitelbaum won the festival's Grulke Prize for Developing U.S. Act.[14] She also released a cover of The Cranberries' song "Disappointment".[48]

Blondshell's debut album was announced for an April 7, 2023 release via Partisan.[47] Teitelbaum also announced a first headlining tour of Europe and North America for May, accompanied by Hello Mary, Girl & Girl, Platonica Erotica, and Oslo Twins.[49] Ahead of the album's release, BrooklynVegan listed her among its "15 Artists to Watch in 2023".[41] On March 31, she debuted a new single, "Salad", on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. It was officially released on April 5.[50][9][51][52][53] Upon release, Blondshell reached No. 88 on Billboard's Top Current Album Sales chart, selling 1,000 copies in the week of April 13, according to Luminate.[54] Around the release of the album, Blondshell was announced as touring support for Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville 30-year anniversary tour.[55] Later that year, former president Barack Obama included "Joiner" on his "Favorite Music of 2023" list.[56]

Artistry

[edit]

During her time as BAUM, Teitelbaum was primarily a pop artist, variously described as alternative pop,[11][24][25][7][41] dark pop,[57][3][7][58] indie pop,[17][59] electropop,[13][11][6] synth-pop,[17][13] dance-pop,[26] soul-pop,[4][60] and chill pop.[5] This sound, which Teitelbaum initially labelled "natural grunge",[18] was compared to artists like Haim,[18][26][22][25] Carly Rae Jepsen,[22][58] Muna,[18][58][26] Lana Del Rey, Adele,[61] Lady Gaga, Lorde,[12] and Tei Shi.[26] Debut single "First" was infused with elements of jazz,[17] while "Fuckboy" was described as "Halsey-ish",[6] with a music video visually evoking Haim, Maggie Rogers, and the drama series Euphoria.[25]

With Blondshell, Teitelbaum draws from alternative rock,[4][5][62][57] indie rock,[57][62][63][41] indie pop,[59][14] grunge,[4][57][41][64][65][14] Britpop,[66][67] and folk.[14] This style has drawn comparisons to '90s alternative artists like Liz Phair, PJ Harvey, Fiona Apple, Hole, Belly, Throwing Muses, Veruca Salt, and The Cranberries,[68][13][6][69] as well as modern singer-songwriters like Phoebe Bridgers, Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail, Olivia Rodrigo, Japanese Breakfast, Boygenius, and Courtney Barnett.[6][36][8][70][71][47][72][73] Technique compared the non-album single "Cartoon Earthquake" to "if Katy Kirby sang a slower, melancholy-tinged version of “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty."[71] Matt Mitchell of Paste Magazine wrote of her debut album, "No two songs sound alike, yet Blondshell is not a collage of subgenres. Instead, it’s Blondshell tinkering with her own renditions of sonic palettes previously mastered by the artists she got really stoked on during the pandemic, like Hole, Nirvana and Patti Smith. It’s indie pop fused with grunge, but it also, thoroughly, rebuffs getting lost among other ’90s alternative imitations."[14]

Regarding her singing voice, Mitchell wrote that Teitelbaum "sings like a classically trained vocalist while injecting her charisma with the bravado of Courtney Love and the pop likability of Avril Lavigne."[14] Her voice has been described as "a cool Gen Z deadpan that occasionally spirals up to a wistful falsetto",[6] having "a worn-out, pessimistic tone",[74] and varying between "a raspy chest voice and a sheer falsetto at times".[49] Willamette Week compared her stage presence to "a stoned high schooler dancing alone to their dad’s vinyl record collection" and noted that she sang with "a gentle yet raw timbre boldly contrasted against her liberated movements across the stage".[75]

Influences

[edit]

As a child, Teitelbaum's father introduced her to classic rock artists including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones (she became "obsessed" with Tattoo You after seeing them live),[2] Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Cher, and Janis Joplin.[4][2][5][6][12] Other early influences included mainstream pop artists like Avril Lavigne, Ashlee Simpson,[46] Adele, Amy Winehouse, Madonna (one of her early songs "accidentally plagiarized" Madonna's "Hung Up"),[3] and Teenage Dream-era Katy Perry;[57] local NYC legends like Patti Smith and The Velvet Underground;[5] and singer-songwriters like Tracy Chapman, Elliott Smith, Feist, and PJ Harvey.[2][4] As a teenager, she discovered indie rock acts like Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, early Tame Impala, The National, Sky Ferreira, Spoon, The Strokes, and The Killers,[5][6][4][24][76] and in college she discovered Muna.[4]

During her BAUM iteration, Teitelbaum cited influences including Frank Ocean, Bon Iver, SZA, The 1975, Tierra Whack, The Japanese House, The Twigs, and Sharon Van Etten.[2][24] She was particularly influenced in this era by Frank Ocean’s Blonde and Bon Iver’s 22, A Million.[14] For Blondshell, she drew from artists including Hole, Kathleen Hanna, PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, Nirvana, Blur, The Replacements, Mitski, The Cure, Interpol, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.[57][4][13][5][42]

Across her career, Teitelbaum has praised the music of Nilüfer Yanya, Jamila Woods, Dominic Fike, Sasami, Gus Dapperton, Caroline Polachek, Joji, Daniel Caesar, Julia Michaels, Dionne Warwick, Cardi B, and Ethel Cain.[24][25][4][2] At the time of the first Blondshell album's release, she had been listening to Big Thief's Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You and the music of Indigo De Souza.[14]

Personal life

[edit]

Teitelbaum lives in Eastside Los Angeles with her boyfriend and a pet German Shepherd named Chinchilla.[6][5] Formerly pescetarian, she has been vegan since 2020.[5] Her amateur interest in medicine partially inspired the lyrics to "Sepsis", which uses the titular condition as a relationship metaphor.[6]

Teitelbaum is bisexual[6][7][11] and self-identifies as queer.[3][6][4] She first came out in high school,[77][7] an experience that inspired the BAUM song "Hot Water"[7][11] and which she wrote about for HuffPost in 2017.[77] In interviews as BAUM, she often discussed issues such as biphobia and bisexual erasure.[11][7] She has voiced mixed feelings on being labeled a queer artist, telling the Los Angeles Times: "on one hand, people need to be able to go on the internet: 'OK, I'm queer and I want to see other people who are openly singing with joy about their sexuality or about the difficulties of it.' [...] But at the same time, every artist is so much more than their sexuality."[6]

Discussing an unreleased single with The Line of Best Fit in 2019, Teitelbaum said she was "somewhere on a spectrum in terms of masculinity and femininity. I do identify as a woman, for sure, but there's a lot of masculine energy that I have. That gets in the way sometimes, when I'm interested in someone. I'll randomly be more masculine one day, and they're like, 'what the fuck?!'"[17] She expressed similar sentiments in a 2023 interview with Crack magazine, saying, "The binary is hard for me, because how I feel about my gender changes a lot day to day", and that exploring her shifting feelings of gender had influenced the writing of her debut album.[78]

Teitelbaum struggled with drugs and alcohol before deciding to pursue sobriety at the end of 2019; her sobriety process influenced the first Blondshell album.[5] She has also spoken of her struggles with anxiety, particularly social and stage anxiety.[77][49][11] She had obsessive–compulsive disorder as a child that was treated with cognitive behavioral therapy,[11] and she began taking Adderall in high school to help her study for exams and deal with weight gain.[77] She had anorexia and an eating disorder from the age of ten, ultimately overcoming it in college with the help of therapy and a supportive friend group.[77][79][11] This, as well as an incident of catcalling she experienced at USC in 2016, inspired the BAUM song "This Body".[11][79][3] She has voiced support for the Time's Up and MeToo movements.[12]

In 2019, Teitelbaum said, "I really care about Judaism and I really identify with it. [...] I don't know if I personally believe in God. I've talked about it with my grandparents, who are really religious, and they say it doesn't really matter as much. I perceive Judaism as a more open-minded religion where you don't really have to follow all of the rules. It's mostly about the community, traditions, and family."[7]

Discography

[edit]

As Blondshell

[edit]

Studio albums

[edit]
Title Details Peak chart positions
US Top Current
Blondshell 88
If You Asked for a Picture
  • Released: May 2, 2025
  • Label: Partisan Records
 —

Singles

[edit]
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
AAA
"Olympus" 2022 — Blondshell
"Kiss City" —
"Sepsis" —
"Cartoon Earthquake" — Blondshell (Deluxe Edition)
"Veronica Mars" — Blondshell
"Disappointment"[80] 2023 — Non-album single
"Joiner" — Blondshell
"Salad" —
"Street Rat" — Blondshell (Deluxe Edition)
"Charm You (Blondshell Version)"
(with Samia) 		— Honey Reimagined Single Series
"Docket"[81]
(featuring Bully) 		2024 38 Non-album single
"Thank You for Sending Me an Angel"[82] — Everyone's Getting Involved
"What's Fair"[83] 35 If You Asked for a Picture
"T&A"[84] 2025 —
"Two Times" —
"23's A Baby" —
"Event of a Fire" —
"Berlin TV Towers" —

Music videos

[edit]
Year Song Director
2022 "Sepsis" Seannie Bryan
"Veronica Mars" Dylan Friese-Greene
2023 "Joiner" Alexandra Thurmond
"Salad" Nick Harwood
"Street Rat" Muriel Knudson

As BAUM

[edit]

EPs

[edit]
Title Details
Ungodly
  • Released: March 16, 2018
  • Label: Independent

Singles

[edit]
Title Year Album
"First" 2017 Non-album single
"Hot Water" Ungodly
"Effortless"
"This Body" 2018
"Fuckboy" 2019 Non-album singles
"Bad Kid"
"Dunno" (Mac Miller cover)

Music videos

[edit]
Year Song Director
2017 "Hot Water" Parker Foster, Chris Alessandra[85]
2019 "Fuckboy" Marcella Cytrynowicz[24][29]
"Bad Kid"

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Blondshell

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia

Sabrina Mae Teitelbaum (born April 28, 1997), known professionally as Blondshell, is an American and born in and based in .
Teitelbaum released her self-titled debut studio album, Blondshell, on April 7, 2023, via , featuring tracks such as "Veronica Mars," "Kiss City," and "Sepsis" that explore themes of personal turmoil through a raw, loud-quiet style influenced by college-rock aesthetics.
The album received critical acclaim for its incisive songwriting and emotional intensity, positioning her as a notable voice in Gen Z indie music.
Her sophomore effort, If You Asked For A Picture, followed on May 2, 2025, continuing her evolution as a performer with performances on platforms like Jimmy Kimmel Live! and appearances at venues such as New York's .
Blondshell has no major industry awards to date but has built a reputation through consistent live shows and streaming presence on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.

Early life

Upbringing in New York

Sabrina Mae Teitelbaum was born in 1997 in to Doug Teitelbaum, a businessman serving as chairman of the electronic cigarette company , and Abigail Teitelbaum (née Smith), who converted to prior to their marriage. The family maintained a Jewish household, with Teitelbaum's paternal lineage tracing Ashkenazi Jewish roots through her grandfather Marvin Teitelbaum, whose parents emigrated from . Teitelbaum grew up in midtown Manhattan as one of five siblings, including a fraternal twin brother. This environment immersed her in the dense, multicultural fabric of the city from an early age, where the constant proximity to diverse artistic expressions and urban rhythms contributed to a sense of normalcy around , including , which she later reflected felt ubiquitous in her surroundings. Her parents' professional pursuits—her father in and consumer products, and maternal grandfather as a prominent manager—placed the family within New York's affluent, high-achieving circles, potentially instilling early awareness of ambition and independence amid the competitive . These formative years in Manhattan's bustling core shaped a attuned to personal and resilience, influenced by familial dynamics and the ceaseless energy of urban life.

Initial musical explorations

Sabrina Teitelbaum first engaged with music during her childhood in , where she frequently listened to pop radio in the car and was introduced by her father to acts including , , and . Obsessed with music from a young age, she grew tired of singing covers of early 2000s pop-rock artists like and , prompting her to experiment with original composition. Around age 7 or 8, Teitelbaum began writing her own songs, drawing initial inspiration from Ashlee Simpson's "Pieces of Me" as an emotional outlet. By age 10, she was crafting "theoretical breakup songs," reflecting a self-directed focus on songwriting as a means of personal expression rather than imitation. Lacking formal training, Teitelbaum taught herself guitar and developed her songwriting skills through informal experimentation, prioritizing literal lyrics over metaphorical structures in these early efforts. This foundational phase, influenced by both contemporary pop and familial classic rock exposure, laid the groundwork for her later musical output without reliance on structured lessons or peers.

Education

High school experiences

Sabrina Teitelbaum attended the , a prestigious private high school on Manhattan's , where she navigated a competitive academic and social environment amid the institution's emerging reputation for fostering musical talent. During her teenage years there, approximately 2011 to 2015, Teitelbaum immersed herself in the downtown music scene, frequently performing original songs at open mic nights in neighborhoods such as the , often under various pseudonyms. These engagements, including talent shows and informal band collaborations, reflected her budding artistic drive but yielded no commercial breakthroughs, as she balanced them with school obligations in a period marked by personal experimentation rather than professional validation.

College and early projects

Teitelbaum enrolled at the 's Thornton following high graduation, majoring in songwriting to develop her compositional skills. She attended the for approximately two years, gaining formal training in songwriting amid her growing interest in performance and production. During her college years, Teitelbaum initiated early musical experiments under the alias BAUM, exploring pop-leaning styles that contrasted with her later direction. This project marked her initial foray into releasing original material, focusing on electronic and chill pop elements as she transitioned from academic pursuits to independent artistry. Feeling burnt out from structured education, Teitelbaum decided to drop out after two years, prioritizing full-time dedication to her career over continued enrollment. This choice facilitated her immersion in the scene, where she honed her craft outside institutional constraints.

Career

BAUM era (2017–2020)

Teitelbaum launched her music project BAUM in 2017 as a student at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music, debuting with the single "Hot Water," an electro-pop track emphasizing emotional introspection and polished synth-driven production. The song reached number two on Hype Machine's popular chart and earned placements on Spotify's New Music Friday playlist, signaling early niche traction in the dark pop landscape. She followed with "Effortless" later that year, maintaining a similar brooding aesthetic with booming electronic elements designed for commercial radio appeal. In 2018, BAUM released the single "This Body," a gritty electro-pop critique of objectification featuring retro-infused synth hooks and dynamic builds. This preceded her debut EP Ungodly on March 16, which included "Hot Water," "This Body," "Effortless," "Dream Girl," and the title track, showcasing a cohesive electro-pop sound blending R&B influences with youthful, assertive lyricism. Teitelbaum dropped out of USC after two years to pursue BAUM full-time, viewing the project as a strategic entry into pop's competitive market. The BAUM era continued into 2019 with singles "Bad Kid" and "Fuckboy," both extending the electro-pop formula with intense vocals and thematic focus on relational dynamics, evoking comparisons to Halsey's confessional style through their raw yet produced intensity. Despite accumulating over 2 million streams across platforms for her handful of releases, the project achieved only modest visibility, with features on editorial playlists but no major label deals or chart-topping success. This period represented Teitelbaum's initial commercial-oriented experimentation, prioritizing accessible electro-pop structures over niche indie sensibilities.

Transition and sobriety (2019–2020)

At the end of 2019, Sabrina Teitelbaum, performing as BAUM, committed to after years of struggling with drugs and alcohol, a decision she described as necessary because substances had ceased to serve her positively. This self-directed choice marked a turning point, enabling a stylistic evolution from BAUM's polished electronic pop toward a more unfiltered sound rooted in personal candor. The process, undertaken without formal intervention, fostered greater artistic authenticity by stripping away prior inhibitions tied to substance use. Early in 2020, as the enforced widespread isolation, Teitelbaum abandoned the BAUM moniker, which she had grown weary of due to its contrived pop leanings, and adopted Blondshell—a name devised casually with her sister over dinner. Confined to her apartment during , she channeled the ensuing into composing material that reflected this rawer aesthetic, prioritizing introspective expression over commercial viability. This period of seclusion amplified the impact of her sobriety, allowing unprompted creative output that prioritized emotional directness. The dual catalysts of and pandemic-induced withdrawal thus converged to redefine Teitelbaum's professional trajectory, shifting from BAUM's external-facing releases to Blondshell's inward-focused genesis, unburdened by prior dependencies. Empirical accounts from her reflections underscore how this voluntary recovery and rebranding enabled sustained productivity amid global disruption, laying groundwork for subsequent explorations without reliance on collaborative or performative crutches.

Debut as Blondshell (2020–2023)

Sabrina Teitelbaum initiated the Blondshell project in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdowns, shifting from the electronic pop of her BAUM era to a grunge-infused indie rock style characterized by distorted guitars and introspective lyrics. This transition reflected a desire for authenticity, as Teitelbaum distanced herself from BAUM's polished production, which had amassed over 2 million streams but felt misaligned with her evolving artistic voice. She demoed early ideas, including "Olympus," for her producer in February 2020, laying groundwork amid isolation that shaped the project's raw emotional core. Blondshell's public debut arrived with the single "Olympus" on June 8, 2022, a track depicting an unhealthy romantic entanglement laced with motifs, delivered in a potent, heavy sound. Premiered exclusively on , it rapidly accumulated millions of streams and viral traction on , signaling a departure from BAUM's pop leanings and drawing comparisons to . Follow-up "Kiss City," released July 20, 2022, sustained this momentum with themes of relational turmoil and self-doubt. "Sepsis," issued August 18, 2022, intensified the project's exploration of personal vulnerability, grief, and addictive patterns, bolstered by a and announcements of U.S. tour dates culminating in a show at Lodge Room on September 7. These singles collectively fostered online buzz and critical attention, with outlets praising their unflinching lyricism and sonic shift. Blondshell secured festival slots, including that fall, enhancing live exposure. The December 6, 2022, release of "" capped the pre-album phase, weaving narratives of loss and emotional dependency into its framework, further solidifying buzz ahead of fuller commitments with . Through 2022-2023, these outputs amassed streaming milestones and positioned Blondshell as an emerging voice in , distinct from mainstream pop trajectories.

Self-titled album and breakthrough (2023–2024)

Blondshell released her self-titled debut album on April 7, 2023, through . The nine-track record features raw, confessional songwriting centered on themes of early adulthood struggles, including substance issues and interpersonal tensions, delivered through serrated guitar rock with hook-driven melodies. Five singles—"Veronica Mars," "Kiss City," "Olympus," "Salad," and "Sepsis"—had preceded the full release, building anticipation via streaming platforms. The album received critical acclaim for its honest lyricism and emotional intensity, with reviewers highlighting Blondshell's ability to channel rage and vulnerability into vivid, - and Hole-influenced alt-rock. described it as a "candid snapshot of early adulthood," praising its unflinching portrayal of bad habits and relational anxieties, while positioned it as a marker of an emerging alt-rock talent. called it the most impressive rock debut of 2023 to date, noting its darkly funny edge amid bruised introspection. This reception underscored her emergence as a sharp songwriter attuned to generational disillusionment. To promote the album, Blondshell announced a headlining tour spanning and starting in spring 2023, including dates in May. Subsequent media coverage and live performances, such as appearances at festivals and support slots, further solidified her rising profile in the indie scene through 2024, though without dominating mainstream charts.

Second album and ongoing developments (2025–present)

Blondshell released her studio album, If You Asked for a Picture, on May 2, 2025, via . The record builds on her debut with a more introspective approach, featuring slower, expansive arrangements in a '90s-indebted alt-rock style, while confronting themes of mid-20s heartache, familial tensions, anger, and personal evolution through candid, visceral songwriting. Critics noted its confident rawness and branching into heavier emotional territory, marking a maturation in Teitelbaum's expression of bitterness and growth. On October 8, 2025, Blondshell announced Another Picture, a companion release scheduled for November 14, 2025, expanding on the original album with new recordings, live tracks, and covers by collaborators including , Samia, and Folk Bitch Trio, alongside the previously unreleased song "Berlin TV Tower." This project reimagines elements of If You Asked for a Picture, incorporating features like a version of "Arms" with Gigi Perez, to offer an alternate perspective on her evolving sound. Ongoing developments include a fall 2025 North American tour, with dates such as November 5 at Wonder Ballroom in Portland and November 10 at Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix, underscoring her solidification in performances. Interviews accompanying the highlighted Teitelbaum's stylistic maturity, emphasizing a shift toward bolder, rock-oriented production and thematic depth without diluting her raw honesty.

Artistry

Musical style and evolution

Blondshell's musical style originated in the electro-pop and alt-pop sounds of her earlier project BAUM, characterized by polished production, synthetic elements, and structured melodies typical of mid-2010s pop experimentation. During the 2017–2020 BAUM era, tracks featured layered electronic textures and upbeat rhythms, reflecting a studio-bound approach with minimal live instrumentation. Post-2020, following her transition amid the , Blondshell pivoted to a raw, guitar-centric framework, emphasizing distorted electric guitars, driving basslines, and sparse drum patterns that evoke 1990s and aesthetics. This shift marked a departure from BAUM's glossy sheen toward lo-fi recording techniques and live-band energy, as heard on her 2023 self-titled debut , where serrated riffs and brooding mid-tempo grooves dominate over eight tracks averaging under four minutes each. The production, handled primarily by Teitelbaum and collaborators like Yves Rothman, prioritized instrumental restraint—often just guitar, bass, drums, and vocals—to highlight dynamic shifts from quiet verses to explosive choruses. By her 2025 album If You Asked for a Picture, Blondshell's sound evolved further into a more expansive alt-rock palette, incorporating swirling textures, non-traditional instrumentation such as subtle synth swells and atmospheric effects, and elongated song structures that extend beyond the debut's punchy concision. Tracks demonstrate increased sonic density, with production layering reverb-heavy guitars against percussive builds, resulting in shapes that meander between tension and release while maintaining a core of confessional vocal delivery over instrumental beds. This progression reflects a maturation in arrangement complexity, from the debut's direct grunge-inflected hooks to broader, texture-driven compositions that clock in at an average of five minutes per song.

Influences

Teitelbaum's early project BAUM drew from contemporary pop sensibilities, with tracks evoking artists like Halsey through emotive, introspective production. This phase reflected influences from modern singer-songwriters emphasizing vulnerability and polished arrangements, as seen in her adoption of similar melodic structures before shifting toward rawer expressions. Her transition to Blondshell marked a pivot to and grunge-inspired sounds, paralleling 1990s alternative acts such as , , and , whose confrontational energy and guitar-driven aesthetics informed her lo-fi edge and thematic directness. Teitelbaum has cited Nirvana and as discoveries following her initial fixation on Adele's 19 (), which at age 12 prompted exploration of grunge's stripped-back intensity. In interviews, Teitelbaum highlights personal favorites underscoring emotional authenticity over stylistic trends, including for his "pure" guitar work and truthfulness, discovered in ninth grade. remains a cornerstone, with Teitelbaum learning her piano-driven songs and crediting the album for sparking broader interests in soulful vocals akin to . Classic rock elements from Queen and ABBA's thick harmonies also shaped her early appreciation for layered arrangements. For her 2023 debut, influences included , , , and , contributing to its grunge-tinged introspection, alongside 1990s production aesthetics. Her 2025 album If You Asked for a Picture drew from Queens of the Stone Age's Rated R (2000) for its masculine energy and Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication (1999) for balancing grit with melody, as Teitelbaum sought to blend these with feminine perspectives. Additional touchstones like the Replacements' "Androgynous" resonated personally as a queer youth, valuing its piano simplicity and lyrical candor.

Lyrical themes and songwriting

Blondshell's lyrics frequently explore the interplay between , self-destructive relationships, and , as evident in her 2023 self-titled debut . Tracks like "" depict the visceral toll of addiction through imagery of physical decay and emotional dependency, while "Joiner" confronts grief and detachment in the wake of loss. Self-doubt permeates songs such as "Olympus," where Teitelbaum questions her worth in romantic contexts, and recovery emerges in "," emphasizing healing from relational wounds. Love and identity form core motifs, with "" blending and longing, and the title track scrutinizing authenticity amid external perceptions. Her 2025 sophomore album, If You Asked for a Picture, extends these themes into deeper , incorporating bitterness toward societal pressures and a heightened emphasis on . Songs like "Arms" and "What's Fair" express frustration with and norms, critiquing how they distort relationships and self-perception. Familial and generational tensions appear in tracks such as "23’s a Baby," which grapples with ongoing and amid personal growth, and "Man," where Teitelbaum recounts a youthful to assert agency and hindsight clarity. Bitterness underscores narratives of control loss in "" (tied to OCD) and "Change," which rejects external validation in favor of internal reckoning, signaling a shift toward unflinching self-examination beyond mere . Teitelbaum's songwriting process prioritizes unfiltered , described as "song-catching"—uncovering pre-existing emotional forms rather than fabricating from void—often drawing from lived experiences post- for greater presence and nuance. She incorporates humor to leaven heavy subjects, as in lighter takes on and rebellion, while avoiding romanticized struggle; , in fact, enriched her lyrical diversity. This approach yields detailed personal narratives, such as burnout in "Event of a Fire" or relational illusions in "Thumbtack," fostering accountability by confronting causal realities of behavior without evasion.

Personal life

Addiction and sobriety journey

Sabrina Teitelbaum grappled with involving drugs and alcohol in the years leading up to 2019, a period marked by patterns of blacking out and conflating addictive behaviors with emotional needs. These issues prompted a deliberate pivot toward recovery, driven by her recognition that such substances were detrimental to her well-being. Teitelbaum committed to sobriety toward the end of 2019, achieving sustained by early 2020 through personal resolve amid the onset of the . She has described this as a "hard-won" process, emphasizing her agency in confronting the "blind spot" created by reliance on substances as a . In subsequent reflections, Teitelbaum has affirmed taking seriously, viewing it as essential to reclaiming her sense of self without external props. Her recovery highlights individual accountability in overcoming , with no public reports of as of 2025 interviews where she continues to reference as an active, maintained state. This journey underscores causal factors like self-directed withdrawal and environmental shifts, rather than external interventions, as key to her enduring .

Identity and relationships

Sabrina Teitelbaum, performing as Blondshell, identifies as , a self-description she has affirmed in interviews discussing her songwriting and personal experiences. She has referenced her explicitly in lyrics and commentary, such as in tracks exploring fluid attractions without framing it as central to her public persona. Teitelbaum's cultural background includes Jewish heritage; she was raised in a Reform Jewish household in New York City, with her father of Ashkenazi Jewish descent and her mother having converted to prior to her birth. This upbringing influenced her worldview, including exposure to Jewish comedic traditions like those of and , though she has described her evolving relationship with religious observance as more cultural than doctrinal. Public details on Teitelbaum's romantic relationships are sparse, respecting her privacy beyond artistic reflections on past dynamics marked by instability. By 2025, she has alluded to maintaining a stable partnership amid personal growth, without disclosing specifics. She grew up with siblings in New York, including a brother, but has not elaborated extensively on family ties post-adolescence.

Reception and impact

Critical reception

Blondshell's self-titled debut album, released on April 7, 2023, received acclaim for its raw depiction of early adulthood struggles, including substance use, toxic relationships, and social anxieties, drawing comparisons to 1990s grunge and alt-rock. The Guardian described it as a "torrid but surprisingly fun coming-of-age album" that captures the contradictions of youth with devotion and delusion in self-destructive dynamics. Spectrum Culture praised its dark, grungy, and cathartic tone, noting the unflinching honesty that occasionally borders on discomfort. Critics highlighted the album's 1990s-inspired as a standout, with KTSW calling it an "incredible debut" featuring stellar, unshakable 90s rock elements that advance a cohesive . However, some reviewers pointed to its niche intensity, suggesting the extreme openness and sarcastic edge might limit broader appeal, though it resonated strongly within indie and alt-rock circles. Her album, If You Asked for a Picture, released on May 2, 2025, was lauded for evolving toward a more introspective and mature style, incorporating dreamy alt-rock influences while exploring mid-20s heartache, family tensions, and personal reckoning. noted Teitelbaum's affectless voice cutting through themes of introspection, marking a shift from the debut's raucous energy to slower, melodic structures akin to or . emphasized its sharp, confessional quality in addressing childhood misery and dysfunctional romance, positioning it as a questioning evolution rather than mere repetition. While commended the album's feisty, polemical edge reminiscent of Hole's , some critiques observed that its raw, branch-out bitterness and slower pacing did not universally surpass the debut's immediacy, potentially alienating fans seeking the original's in-your-face vigor. Everything Is Noise acknowledged the sophomore's strong craftsmanship and openness but cautioned that the writing's callous attitude and specificity might not sway skeptics or convince those undecided after the first record. viewed it as a "brilliant continuation" maintaining emotional depth, though listener reactions varied, with some preferring the debut's punch over the follow-up's polish.

Commercial performance and achievements

Blondshell's self-titled debut album, released on April 7, 2023, debuted at No. 88 on the Top Current Album Sales chart, with 1,000 copies sold in its first full week according to Luminate data reported in industry analyses. Under her prior project BAUM, Teitelbaum accumulated over 2 million streams across electronic pop releases, providing an early foundation for audience growth. By October 2025, Blondshell had amassed approximately 67 million total Spotify streams across her catalog, with around 60 million as lead artist, reflecting steady digital uptake in the indie rock space. Her Spotify monthly listeners stood at 674,300, supporting sustained plays for singles like "Joiner" exceeding 14 million streams. The 2025 sophomore album If You Asked for a Picture, released May 2, drove further streaming gains amid its rollout, though it did not enter major U.S. album sales charts prominently. Live performance metrics highlight expanding commercial reach, with multiple 2025 headline dates selling out, including shows at the Fonda Theatre in in June and Wonder Ballroom in Portland in November. Blondshell announced a 19-date North American tour in January 2025, followed by European and UK legs in September-November, marking progression from supporting slots to international headlining. Achievements include a 2024 Libera Award nomination for Best Music Video for the "" clip from her debut, recognizing independent sector impact via . The label's broader success, including a win for Label of the Year at the same awards, underscores Blondshell's role in its roster expansion. A planned companion release, Another Picture, set for November 2025 with covers and live tracks, extends momentum from the second album's touring cycle.

Criticisms and debates

Blondshell, the musical project of Sabrina Teitelbaum, has faced notable criticisms and debates since its inception. Some commentators have questioned the authenticity of her stylistic shifts from pop to rock, suggesting they might be driven by industry trends rather than genuine artistic evolution. These critiques often highlight the broader indie music landscape, where confessional songwriting is sometimes viewed as overly introspective or lacking substantive depth. Additionally, Blondshell's personal disclosures about and have sparked discussions about the balance between artistic expression and individual . While these topics have not yet led to major controversies, they have contributed to ongoing debates within the music community about the intersection of personal narrative and public persona.

Discography

As Blondshell

As Blondshell, Sabrina Teitelbaum has released two studio albums and a companion EP under her primary project, Blondshell. The debut album, Blondshell, was released on May 19, 2023, through . The follow-up, If You Asked for a Picture, came out on February 14, 2025, also via . A companion EP, Another Picture, was released on October 24, 2025, again through . Her music is characterized by introspective and a blend of and pop influences.

As BAUM

BAUM, the pop-focused of Blondshell, emerged in the music scene with a series of EPs and singles between and 2020. This phase marked a distinct departure from Blondshell's introspective , focusing instead on a more polished, electro-pop sound. Notable releases under the BAUM moniker include "Hot Water" and "This Body," which were met with a positive reception, particularly on streaming platforms like and . These tracks, characterized by their catchy hooks and vibrant production, were well-received by audiences, accumulating millions of streams collectively. Despite the success of these releases, BAUM did not release any full-length albums during this period, instead opting for a series of short-form projects that highlighted the artist's versatility. The BAUM project, while brief, served as a precursor to Blondshell's later work, demonstrating the artist's ability to navigate different musical styles and themes.

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