Blondshell – Violins
Blondshell (Sabrina Teitelbaum) has today announced the September 25 release of her new album Violins via Partisan Records (produced by Yves Rothman, mixed by Beatriz Artola, mastered by Emily Lazar).
After introducing herself as a vital new voice in rock on 2023’s Blondshell and 2025’s If You Asked for a Picture, filled with loud-quiet guitars and whipsmart songwriting that earned her global acclaim – her third record, Violins, goes deeper.
Teitelbaum now has the freedom to say exactly what she wants, how she wants. “I felt like I didn’t need to overexplain anything, like I can trust the people listening more,” Teitelbaum says. “It feels like every time I make a record, I get closer to making the thing that I really want to make.”
Across the LP’s eleven tracks Teitelbaum grapples with how we balance the world’s violence with its beauty, exploring troubled friendships, religion, the body, and the long, unglamorous work of healing. The result is a collection of songs filled with grandeur, drama, and tragedy, built on her signature virtuoso hooks, swelling guitars, and big lead lines.
Giving fans an early look at what’s to come, today Teitelbaum releases Violin’s title track and emotional centerpiece. Serving as the record’s North Star, Teitelbaum puts music to an unassuming, everyday piece of dialogue – “It’s not overnight / It takes all my focusing / ‘It’s like watching paint’ / Wait, what’d you say?” – to capture how true healing from trauma takes a lifetime, but its resonance extends to anyone clawing their way towards growth that requires patience. Sonically “Violins” pairs turbulence with tenderness as it moves from a delicate opening into an explosive, hook-heavy chorus, marrying guitar-driven urgency with pop instinct and a playful record-scratch interruption with the “Wait, what’d you say” part. Teitelbaum says:
“This song sums up the album in a lot of ways. When I was writing I felt really drawn to images of patience and kindness, for example putting your head on someone’s shoulder, alongside images of violence. I was also inspired by the idea of healing slowly and refusing to be rushed by any outside force. Things genuinely just take the time they take. I’m not at a point in life where I can have a no assholes policy yet, but I like the idea of weeding out people that aren’t going to let me have limitations.”
The accompanying music video is a dream-like visual directed by Sabra Binder (Suki Waterhouse, Willow). The clip features Blondshell confined to a room as she attempts to save a fawn-shaped ice sculpture from melting, incorporating sculptural imagery reminiscent of Alexander McQueen alongside nods to surrealist theater.
With its evocations of grandeur, drama, tragedy, and skill, Violins is an appropriate title for an album that spends its 11 tracks asking how we balance the world’s violence with its beauty. Teitelbaum’s songs are satisfyingly-structured as ever, with virtuoso hooks, swelling guitars, and telling lyrical nods to Leonard Cohen and Pavement. Pulling in fresh influences – Gang of Four and Teenage Fanclub’s singular tones, The Go-Betweens’ indie-pop precision, Sade’s calming synths – Violins carries you like a wave.
“This record’s heavy in a way,” Teitelbaum says, though her songwriting breathes anew. “It’s gotten a little bit less literal,” she says. “There’s more imagery. But my main goal with this record was to have songs that hit hard. I wanted big lead lines.” Three albums on, Teitelbaum’s working relationship with producer Yves Rothman has fully locked in – fleshing out the demos of songs Teitelbaum wrote on her own, then recording live with the band. “I felt like I wasn’t walking in the dark anymore,” Teitelbaum said of her increasing studio fluency. “I spend more time with Yves than almost anybody – we just have such an efficient working relationship.”
Previous Blondshell albums used romantic relationships as prisms to confront power, addiction, and body image, augmented with dry wit and nonchalant humor and confident scream-along choruses. On Violins, Teitelbaum explores these subjects without “the veil of bad romantic relationships,” she says. With more maturity, Violins addresses themes of violence, religion, and troubled friendships, taking creative lyrical liberties without sacrificing catharsis.
A mind-body tension flows through Violins. Teitelbaum writes about the body with her characteristically clever finesse using food metaphors and singing bluntly about periods to underscore how the body and mind are inseparable. The album also finds her invoking the spiritual as she explores a personal relationship with a higher power not through organized religion but in the makeup of one’s earthly life.
Last month Blondshell shared Violins’ “Heart Has To Work So Hard,” which marked her first new music since the release of her critically acclaimed album If You Asked For A Picture and its companion release Another Picture (featuring Conor Oberst, Samia, John Glacier, Gigi Perez, and more). Most recently, Blondshell joined Kesha’s Bonnaroo SuperJam to perform The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s classic “Maps.”
This Fall Blondshell will embark on a massive North America and Europe/UK where she will play some of her biggest headline shows to date. The stateside run kicks off October 14 in San Diego and concludes November 7 in Boston with stops at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, where she will reunite with her “Docket” partner Bully on October 16, followed by Terminal 5 in her hometown of New York City on November 6. Supporting Blondshell on select dates include Bully, Starcleaner Reunion, Prewn, TTSSFU, and Theatre.
Blondshell Tour Dates
7/2 – Summerfest – Milwaukee, WI
8/8 – Maha Festival – Omaha, NE
10/14 – Observatory North Park – San Diego, CA @
10/16 – The Wiltern – Los Angeles, CA @%
10/17 – Castro Theatre – San Francisco, CA @
10/19 – Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR @
10/20 – Showbox SoDo – Seattle, WA @
10/23 – Varsity – Minneapolis, MN $
10/24 – Vic Theater – Chicago, IL $
10/27 – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON $
10/28 – Beanfield Theatre – Montreal, QC $
10/31 – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA $
11/03 – 9:30 Club – Washington, DC $
11/06 – Terminal 5 – New York, NY $=
11/07 – House of Blues – Boston, MA $
12/06 – Melkweg – Amsterdam, NL #
12/07 – Metropol – Berlin, DE #
12/08 – Ancienne Belgique – Brussels, BE #
12/10 – La Gaité Lyrique – Paris, FR #
12/12 – O2 Ritz – Manchester, UK #
12/13 – The Old Fruitmarket – Glasgow, UK #
12/15 – Roundhouse – London, EN #
12/17 – The Academy – Dublin, IE *
% w/ support from Bully
@ w/ support from Starcleaner Reunion
$ w/ support from Prewn
# w/ support from TTSSFU
* w/ support from Theatre
= w/ support from NoSo
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