Photo courtesy of Hannah Bon

You might’ve seen her on stage with Weezer a few weeks ago. Or maybe you saw her live at Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, or South By Southwest in the past couple of years. She’s also opened for Liz Phair, Queens of the Stone Age, and Suki Waterhouse, among others, and was featured on A24’s Talking Heads tribute album last year. Even though Blondshell (the stage name of Sabrina Teitelbaum) may be a relatively new artist, she is already everywhere, whether you know it or not.

Blondshell just kicked off the first leg of her tour promoting her sophomore album, “If You Asked For a Picture,” and will be playing at Delmar Hall on Nov. 18. Thematically, Teitelbaum picks up near where she left off in her 2022 debut, singing about relationship strife, addiction, body image, and other personal and societal issues.

With so many of her songs exploring personal and vulnerable topics, one can’t help but wonder  how true each story is to Teitelbaum’s own experiences. In an interview earlier this year, Teitelbaum said that 99% of “If You Asked For A Picture” is autobiographical. While that may have been true at the moment, she thinks differently about it now.

“I feel like less of it is autobiographical now, because my life is less tumultuous. So if I did that interview now, it would be a lower percentage,” she said.

Teitelbaum’s influences lie mostly in the ‘90s alt-rock scene. Listening to Blondshell is like flipping through an encyclopedia of the genre through the lens of current indie rock sounds; her music is a palimpsest of the ‘90s alternative genre. It’s all there, even if it’s (very) subtle: the Pixies’ guitar tones and sound dynamics (“Docket”), or Queens of the Stone Age’s guitar rock interludes (“He Wants Me”), and their melodic low points (“Arms”). The Red Hot Chili Peppers have also served as an influence on Blondshell’s sound.

“There’s nothing that those guys can do that I don’t think is available to me right now… I think in my music, I’ve tried to make it feel really tough, because for me, that kind of feels like armor in a way,” Teitelbaum said.

The time it takes to write a song is different every time Teitelbaum sits down in her apartment to start the lyrics or melody. She said that she usually writes a song over the course of a single day, editing it later on during the recording process. Her lyrics are introspective, and more importantly, honest.

“It would never occur to me to hide stuff about my life when I’m writing, because writing is supposed to be that one place for me where I don’t think about people’s perception. I don’t think about if something is too private or too personal,” Teitelbaum said.

To Teitelbaum, songwriting is a creative outlet that helps her feel better about certain things going on in her life.

“I think there’s so many things going on that are uncreative and obviously, like late stage capitalism, everything is just sort of about optimizing your time and getting as much done as possible,” she said. “And I think if you do something creative, like make a song or just sit down and play guitar or whatever, for me, that makes me feel much more alive than everything else.”

While songwriting is a creative outlet for Teitelbaum, performing live is how she connects most strongly with her listeners, something she prioritizes.

“I think every show is different… everything’s online, but this is an opportunity to actually be with people in person and share music,” she said.

Live performances are also special when fans have the opportunity to see themselves represented on stage.

“I think it’s so important to see women on stage… I think everybody, no matter who you are, you need to see yourself and your experience reflected in art, music, TV, film, whatever. Everybody needs to see themselves represented and reflected back,” Teitelbaum said. When she was younger, listening to Avril Lavigne on the radio was one of the first times Teitelbaum remembered feeling represented by a piece of art.

“I didn’t really grow up talking about feminism or just talking about things that are unique to being a woman,” she said.

Instead of paying for a ticket to attend Blondshell’s show next week, fans can volunteer two hours of their time at a local St. Louis non-profit in exchange for a ticket.

“I was like, ‘Hell yeah, that’s so exciting,’ so of course I wanted to do it,” Teitelbaum said when asked about this alternative way of selling tickets.

Blondshell’s “Another Picture” (a deluxe version of “If You Asked For A Picture”) drops on Nov. 14. Listeners can also look forward to another collaboration with singer-songwriter Samia “hopefully soon.” In the meantime, Blondshell is performing at Delmar Hall next week on Nov. 18.