Blondshell's Sharp, Secret-Sharing ‘If You Asked for a Picture'

For her second album as Blondshell, L.A. singer-songwriter Sabrina Teitelbaum is figuring out how much of her life story she wants to tell the world — how much she needs to tell — and how much to hide away for herself. On her acclaimed 2023 self-titled debut, she was really letting it all hang out, in searing confessional indie-rock. But on If You Asked For a Picture, Teitelbaum's more ambivalent, more questioning, reckoning with her painful past, from childhood misery to dysfunctional young-adult romance. These are the songs of an artist who wants to figure out who she is by singing about it.
Teitelbaum takes her album title from the Mary Oliver poem 'Dogfish,' with the key line, 'I wanted the past to go away, I wanted to leave it, like another country.' That's her approach in these songs — she sorts through her secrets and memories, wondering how much of her damage to take with her into the future and how much to leave behind. As she laments in 'What's Fair,' 'I didn't grow up/And it spilled over/Now I'm left open/When I'm in love.'
More from Rolling Stone
How Blondshell Tapped Into an Even Deeper Feeling for Her Second LP
Being in Your Twenties Can Be a Mindf-ck. Blondshell Wrote a Song About it
Blondshell Showcases Rolling Stones-Inspired Single 'T&A' on 'Kimmel'
She sets the tone with 'T&A,' as she finds herself stuck with yet another worthless man-boy lover, recalling, 'I said if you stop drinking maybe I could find you attractive/Maybe I could let you have it/And it happened.' She can't even tell her sister she's still with this guy — 'she knows about that fight, remember?' — but she can't let go of him either. She winds up asking herself, over and over, 'Letting him in, why don't the good ones love me?'
The album flows in a mellow folk-rock groove, close to the Cranberries or Sheryl Crow or (for you really deep Nineties pop connoisseurs) early Duncan Shiek. She combines her moody-blue guitar and spiky lyrics — shimmeringly pretty on the surface, but with a bite. With producer Yves Rothman, she piles on the vocal overdubs, inspired by her love for the Beach Boys. She digs deep into adolescent identity crises in 'Event of a Fire,' singing candidly about body image and social anxiety, with piercing lines like 'Part of me still sits at home in a panic over 15 pounds.' In tough family songs like 'What's Fair' and '23's a Baby,' she goes into mother/daughter tension with anger that cuts both ways; she takes her share of the blame, admitting, 'I said something when I was ten that I take back.'
Like her debut, If You Asked For a Picture has a rogue's gallery of disposable menfolk — when Teitelbaum sings 'You're a thumbtack in my side,' that's the closest she gets to an upbeat love song. The standout tunes come when she gets nasty, as in 'Toy,' with its New Order-style guitar hook, where she compares the relationship to a Wendy's (she doesn't mean it as a compliment), and the slow-burning 'Man,' where she admits, 'I needed the world from just one man.'
That Mary Oliver poem has the lines, 'If you asked for a picture I would have to draw a smile/Under the perfectly round eyes and above the chin/Which was rough/As a thousand sharpened nails.' That sums up the album — Teitelbaum might be willing to show the world a smile, but there's no mistaking the sharp edges behind it.
Best of Rolling Stone
The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs
All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Hypebeast

5 hours ago

• Hypebeast

A$AP Rocky 以 Ray-Ban 創意總監身份首推「Wayfarer Puffer」形象企劃

繼今年 2 月Ray-Ban宣佈A$AP Rocky出任品牌史上首位創意總監後，這位向來酷愛墨鏡的饒舌巨星，近日終於將其親自操刀的首個 Ray-Ban 形象企劃正式帶回成長地 Harlem。 此前，A$AP Rocky 曾以「Black Out Collection」為其打響頭炮，隨後他將焦點放在 Ray-Ban 標誌性 Wayfarer 框型上，並先後於 Met Gala 及 Cannes 紅毯上，佩戴全球獨一無二的「Wayfarer Puffer」特別版——該版本鑲嵌 18K 金標誌、天然鑽石與各色寶石。如今，Ray-Ban 與 Flacko 正式揭曉 Wayfarer Puffer 新系列及其於 Harlem 取景的形象大片。作品揉合 Flacko 的文化背景、社區情感與個人品味，多位當地藝術家與街坊在 Flacko 成長的街頭戴上「充氣」鏡框，完美詮釋「Rooted in Harlem. Designed for the world.」的標語 。 雖然市售版 Wayfarer Puffer 並未鑲嵌 18K 金或天然鑽石，但同樣提供紅、藍、粉、黃、綠、黑及白等亮澤色調，每副售價為 $202 美元。立即滑動上方圖庫，率先欣賞 Rocky 親自操刀的 Ray-Ban 首個形象企劃。 >YOASOBI 攜手 PlayStation、F.C. Real Bristol 推出「PLAYERS」聯名球衣 >Salehe Bembury 攜手 Mitchell & Ness 推出 New York Knicks 全新聯名系列 >WACKO MARIA 與塗鴉藝術家 NECK FACE 推出全新聯乘系列

Hypebeast

5 hours ago

• Hypebeast

Graniph 攜手 Death Note 推出全新聯乘系列

本文看點 日本設計品牌 Graniph 攜手大場鶇筆下超人氣漫畫系列《死亡筆記本Death Note》，正式推出全新聯名服飾與配件系列，讓 L、夜神月、彌海砂及死神路克等經典角色重現於潮流單品之上。 系列品項豐富，包含長短袖 T-Shirt、夏威夷襯衫、Polo 衫及長褲等多款服飾，設計上巧妙融入漫畫分鏡、經典場景以及人氣角色圖案，將《死亡筆記本》忠實呈現，此外亦帶來襪子、漁夫帽、托特袋及拉鍊錢包等多款配件。 《死亡筆記本》x Graniph 全新聯名系列將於 7 月 1 日起透過 Graniph 官網發售，有興趣的讀者不妨多加留意。 >YOASOBI 攜手 PlayStation、F.C. Real Bristol 推出「PLAYERS」聯名球衣 >A$AP Rocky 以 Ray-Ban 創意總監身份首推「Wayfarer Puffer」形象企劃

Forbes

14 hours ago

• Forbes

Bubba Ray Responds To R-Truth, Makes Bold Prediction About WWE LFG

WWE LFG Season 2 premieres June 22, 2025 on A&E. If Bubba Ray Dudley (AKA Bully Ray) was a catchphrase, it would be 'That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.' As a no-nonsense curmudgeon with a heart of gold, Bubba Ray took to coaching the Season 1 cast of WWE LFG like a duck to water. Bubba showed a soft spot for potential prodigies in Zena Sterling and Drake Morreaux, but never hesitated to default to mean Uncle Bubba when he was shown disrespect. This manifested itself several times through the season-long beef alongside Season 1's habitual line-stepper BJ Ray. Jasper Troy (Team Booker T) and Olympic gold medalist Tyra May Steele (Team Undertaker) prevailed in Season 1, however neither was under the tutelage of Bubba Ray. Now back for Season 2, Bubba Ray is picking up where he left off. Bubba back as a coach in Season 2, where most of the Season 1 cast will be returning alongside new coach Michelle McCool and new talent Trill London, Hayley Montoya and Karyn Best. Bubba was also in rare form throughout this informative, if not heated, interview. Bubba Ray On Season 2 Of WWE LFG Bubba Ray Dudley: Alfred, before we get started- Alfred Konuwa: Let's go, let's go. BRD: Have you ever buried me on social media? AK: I don't believe I have. BRD: You don't believe you have? AK: No, because— BRD: Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah When Uncle Bubba talks you listen. Have you ever spoken disparagingly of me on the old Twitter machine? AK: My answer to you is: I do not think so. But because you're bringing this up, can you let me know what I may or may not have said? BRD: No, I'm asking you a flat…you would know if you talked bad about me. It's a yes or no question. AK: My answer is no because I've always put you over. BRD: Then we can proceed. As a matter of fact, since you put me over in the past, why don't you put me over some more? AK: I will (laughing), because one of my most viral tweets is when I said that I thought the Bully Ray character in TNA is a top five heel all time, without any qualifiers. And I can't tell you how many people I fought. Now, I'm not one of these people who stays on Twitter all the time and cares about what people tweet about me. But that was one where I got a lot of blowback about it and I stood on business about that. So no, I've said way more good things than bad, if I've said any bad things about you. BRD: Uh, uh, uh you almost slipped up there, Alfred, you almost... At, at, we almost caught you. AK: (Laughing) Okay, but I'm positive I've never buried you on social media. BRD: So, doesn't Forbes always do like their Top 100 or Top 500 or something like that? AK: They do do stuff like that. They have the 40 Under 40, Top Real-Time Billionaires etc. BRD: So is this like for the Top 10 Most Handsome Men in Professional Wrestling? AK: We could make it that. Why not? BRD: Because we all know by listening to 'Busted Open' every day and there's super sexy swinging sounds of Uncle Bubba's sandpapery smooth voice, that I am one of the most handsome men in professional wrestling. You would agree, right? Alfred? AK: I would agree that you are a Top 5 handsome man, without any question, without any qualifiers. BRD: (Laughing) You may ask your questions now, Alfred. AK: Absolutely. Well, I want to start by, of course thanking you. Again, big fan of yours. I don't care what anybody says. You are obviously an all-time great and you're coming back for season two of LFG. I would like to know, just based on Season 1, seeing everybody's coaching styles: Booker T, Undertaker's coming back, Michelle McCool is going to be there. Who do you feel is your biggest competition in terms of the coach? BRD: Actually, I have no competition because I don't look at it as a competition. And that's a genuine answer. We all have very unique in coaching styles. Obviously myself and Booker having wrestling schools over the past 15 to 20 years, Booker with Reality of Wrestling in Houston, Texas, myself and my brother D-Von with the Team 3D Academy down in Orlando, Florida, Booker has pumped out a lot of talent that has made it to the top. We have pumped out so much talent that has made it to the top of all wrestling companies. So, we have our very unique styles. As a matter of fact, as much as me and Booker break each other's chops about so many things, we agree on nine out of 10 things that will come up about the way we train. And we often find ourselves using the same terminology or the same methods to help pass down the knowledge. This is very new for the Undertaker. This is new because we're seeing more of the Undertaker than we probably ever have seen before. As a matter of fact, the word on the streets is that Undertaker is too nice on season one. Will we see a meaner, more stern Undertaker on Season 2? And Michelle brings a different set of eyes and ears for the women. I think Mickie James did a phenomenal job in season one. Mickie became like the mother to these future greats. I don't think Michelle McCool has that same vibe with them, but she is now a Hall of Famer, four Hall of Famers, four legendary talents up there, all judging these 16 future greats. It's not a competition to me. I want to see all 16 of these future greats take steps forward. But mostly, I want to see Zena Sterling do in Season 2 what should have happened in Season 1. And that is her being given that NXT contract and moving on to become the star that Zena will become. AK: I'm glad that you brought up Zena because there's a lot of familiar faces we're going to see an LFG from Season 1. Are there any names that come to mind that after seeing and working with this talent in Season 2, where your opinion has either gone up or down about them? BRD: Not my opinion because I'm pretty dead on balls accurate, once I meet you for the first time. I've been doing this for a while so I can kind of figure it out within the first five minutes. It's like a song. I know within the first five seconds whether I know a song or not. And I can tell you within the first five minutes whether or not I think a talent will pan out, and whether or not I think they have the right personality for our industry. There are however talents that have come out of their shell, that at first you say to yourself, "I'm not quite sure if we're ever going to see this person's real personality." And then somehow, some way it shines through. On the women's side, it's Sirena Linton, the girl who, Season 1, told us the story about how she watched her dad get deported and her brother get killed at an early age. And we saw the emotion out of her. She really didn't do too much in the first half of Season 1. She started to shine at the end of Season 1. And in Season 2, we're seeing more of that inner spicy side of her come to life, a lot more confidence in Sirena. And she's going to be interesting to watch. On the men's side, I got two words for you: Elijah, mother-trucking, Holyfield. I'll say those two words again. Elijah, mother-trucking, Holyfield. Elijah, another guy…when I first saw Elijah, I was like, "Oh my God." You want to talk about the it factor when it comes to just the visual? Wow. Dear God. But then he would open his mouth and there'd be nothing there, no confidence, no nothing. But as I spoke to Elijah a little bit more and I watched him and I observed him, very shy, very reserved. One day he said something and I was like, "Aha, there's something there. There's an inner anger, there's an inner volcano waiting to explode." And we saw it happen in the middle of Season 1. And in Season 2, I think you're going to see even more of Elijah Holyfield. You're going to see that bad mother trucker that we all know that he can be. And I think he's going to open a lot of eyes, and I think he's going to get out of the shadow of being the son of Evander Holyfield. AK: That's amazing. And I've already read some of these synopses for the first couple of episodes. And I saw that it says that you revisited some old issues with one Drake, mother trucking, Morreaux. So what are your thoughts about— BRD: Alfred, Alfred, don't ever use my terms. If you want to use my terms, you have to ask Uncle Bubba permission first. And it should sound like, "Uncle Bubba, can I please use your terms? Thank you. XOXO, Alfred." That's for the future. AK: My apologies, Uncle Bubba. BRD: Drake is… really like Drake Morreaux, I really, really do. But I think that's the problem. I think he's too likable. I think I put this Bayou Boogie kind of New Orleans dancing happy, beer-drinking, alligator-juice-drinking, throwing personality on him because I didn't think that the inner badass would come through because he's so nice. So, I gave him something that the people could get behind, that they could relate to. Everybody loves going to New Orleans, everybody loves having beads thrown at them. To me, Drake Moreau came across as a modern-day, Jimmy Boogie Woogie Man, Valiant. And everybody loved the Boogie Woogie Man. But when the bell rang, Boogie Woogie would kick your ass. And that's what I wanted from Drake. Season 2 starts out with a little bit of animosity with me and Drake because I don't think Drake believes in me like I did not believe in him at the end of Season 1. Although, I really wanted to believe in him. So, you'll see the dynamic between Bubba and Drake play out in Season 2. Bubba Ray Reacts To R-Truth's Response To Him AK: Speaking of the dynamic of the happy-go-lucky wrestler who—when the bell rings—they could get serious. You've had some pretty controversial thoughts about one, Ron Killings in saying that you did not necessarily agree with him going so serious so soon. BRD: You're wrong, Alfred. You're wrong. I never said that. AK: Okay. But can I just premise this by saying that him coming back and being more serious, you did have some objections to that. Am I right about that? BRD: No, you're wrong. AK: Can you let me know exactly what you said, and more importantly what you meant? BRD: So, did you listen to everything that I said on 'Busted Open,' or did you listen to clips on the cesspool that is Twitter? AK: Not only did I listen to everything you said on 'Busted Open,' I saw R-Truth's response, who seemed to also take exception to you saying that maybe he should be more of who he was before he got released. And I'd like to know your response to his response. BRD: When Ron Killings came on 'Busted Open,' did he seem as fired up or more fired up on 'Busted Open' as he was on Monday Night Raw? AK: He did seem very fired up. BRD: You're welcome. Because only I can bring that type of level of fire out of people, because I'm off frickin Sith Lord, when it comes to lighting fires underneath asses. It's what I do. And it's a dying art form in our industry. And very few get it. What I said was, I didn't want to hear…and this was just a personal opinion, did not want to hear him refer to himself as R-Truth anymore. I didn't want to hear the Truth theme. It seemed by cutting off the hair, to me was symbolic of him leaving the Truth persona behind. He wants to be serious Ron Killings, then I only want to hear about Ron Killings. Truth is somebody that we were entertained by for 20 years. I was entertained, I laughed with, I laughed at R-Truth, but did I ever really care about R-Truth? I want to care, I want to be emotionally invested. And I want that serious side of Ron Killings that I want to care about the serious side of Ron Killings. That's why I said, "I don't need to hear the Truth name anymore." This was an opinion. This was not like he has to do this, he must do this. And if Truth heard something that inspired him to pick up the phone and call 'Busted Open,' well, as I said in the beginning, you're welcome. I bring out the best and the worst in everybody. Bubba Ray Praises John Cena Heel Character AK: And Ron Killings, we're seeing what I think is the best of Ron Killings because I love this feud that he has with John Cena, who has been very polarizing as a heel. What do you think WWE has gotten right with the John Cena heel character? What do you think they've gotten wrong with it? BRD: I'm not falling into your trap. AK: What's the trap? I'm asking both sides. BRD: What have they done wrong with John Cena? AK: I'm asking the question, I'm not going to say. BRD: And I'm asking you back. You tell me first. What have they done wrong with him? AK: If I could say anything that they've done wrong, which I've enjoyed more than I haven't, I would say that John Cena not changing anything was a misstep. I think it's a great idea that 'I'm not going to give you fans a new John Cena,' I love the psychology behind that. But for John Cena to continue to come out dressed like that, you still see him as John Cena. He still gets cheered. And I think if he was a completely different character, maybe he would get booed more. BRD: Alfred, are you familiar with a band named Kiss? AK: I am. Detroit Rock City, even though I was born in [Milwaukee.] BRD: Okay. Detroit Rock City, probably the greatest opening song of any rock act in history. Kiss wears the same makeup, plays the same songs. Gene Simmons blows the same fire, he spits the same blood, they play Rock and Roll All Night the same way. At the end of every show, they blow the confetti and they say, "Thank you. Good night. We're Kiss." They haven't changed a damn thing. And up until Kiss's very last show on December 31st in Madison Square Garden in 2000 and I don't know, 23, 24, whatever it was, they sold out every single night doing the exact same thing for 20 years. Why should John Cena change a thing? I'm not a big fan of cliches. And here's one, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. You're getting different side of John, a different personality from John. Why does John have to wear different clothing? It's about the personality. I want to react to everything that John Cena says. I want to react to his words, his tone, his inflections, his mannerisms. I don't give a damn what he's wearing, because if I'm booing the clothing, then I'm not booing the man. By the way, all this advice I'm giving you and smartening you up is free. The next round, you pay for. AK: I really appreciate it because I was going to take out a credit line, but now I don't have to. Thank you so much. I wish we could go on and on. You're going to have to invite me on 'Busted Open' one of these days. I love this conversation. I'm going to put you over on Twitter again. BRD: Thank you, Alfred. Appreciate you. WWE LFG Season 2 premieres January 22, 2025 on A&E at 10 pm EST/9 pm Central. All quotes were received firsthand unless otherwise noted.