If You Asked For A Picture. Blondshell

Two years ago I crowed loudly over single and album opener 'Veronica Mars' from Blndshell's eponymous debut album. It is time to take a close listen  to album number two that was released a few weeks ago.

Blondshell is still Sabrina Teitelbaum from L.A. She's responsible for all the songs on the album, a few co-written with others. To my surprise she does not play a single instrument on the album. The (multi) instrumentalists that worked with her and producer Yves Rothman created a coherent sound.

The album opens with an indie pop track this time around. 'Thumbtack' has a melancholy vibe as if something has come and gone and not remembered fondly. There's a little Lana del Rey in the way the song is presented. The 50s vibe is totally missing though. Especially in this lyric that I have never heard Doris Day sing, "I let you keep a ball chain on my leg"?

Next up is the first rocker of the album. 'T & A' is a song that belies living in the sun the whole year round. Musically we have moved into the 00s and the kind of rock that came out the U.S. at the time. It is where I like Blondshell to be. The rock side fits her voice very well and allows her to show the different shades she can sing in. High, lower and that soft form of screaming that adds great harmonies here and there. Sabrina Teitelbaum has so much variation in her voice that it makes for pleasant and surprising listening. 'Arms' is a good example of her vocal prowess. She comes close to Wolf Alice's Ellie Rowsell here.

I'll admit that I sort of forgot about Blondshell's new album. It disappeared in that huge digital stack that reaches me. And then a cd landed on my doorstep. It only took a few songs in for me to realise that I'd made a bad mistake, i.e. overlooking If You Asked For A Picture. Where I wrote of 'Blondshell' that it contained several good songs but was not among the best albums in its genre, on this album I can only write that Blondshell set the steps that I hoped the artist would set. Yes, some sounds may sound familiar but all are used in a clever and good way, giving body to a song.

The point that strikes me most, is how convincing nearly all the songs sound. Whether fast or slower, loud or softer, Blondshell delivers.in spades. If You Asked For A Picture, a line she lent from poet Mary Oliver, is a mature indie/alternative rock album. It even visits the Tony Soprano Memorial Centre in New Jersey. Now what more can a Soprano's fan ask for?

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order If You Asked For A Picture here:

https://blondshell.bandcamp.com/album/if-you-asked-for-a-picture