Blondshell revealed to fans at Glastonbury 2024 that production of her second album is well under way, and she debuted two new tracks to prove it.
Performing on the Woodsies stage earlier today (June 30), Blondshell told the crowd: “I’m making a new album, we’re gonna play a couple of songs from it.”
The LA-based artist gave the audience a taste of two new tracks — the first, which she didn’t reveal a title for, is a grungy exploration of a toxic relationship, that features the lyrics “You want me to be famous so you can live by proxy / You always had a reason to comment on my body”. The second track debuted at the festival is called ‘T&A’, which Blondshell told the crowd “stands for tits and ass”.
Elsewhere during her first ever Glastonbury performance, Blondshell covered ‘Jane Says’ by Jane’s Addiction, introducing it as a “very American cover”. She also played tracks from her self-titled debut album, including ‘Sober Together’, a song that details trying to quit alcohol and drugs with a friend who keeps relapsing. She introduced the song between sips of water by saying: “I know that festivals aren’t he most drug and alcohol places on earth but this is a song about having to get sober.”
Signing off her debut set at Worthy Farm, Blondshell thanked the crowd for coming to see her, telling them: “It really means a lot and I’m gonna remember it forever.”
Blondshell’s Glastonbury 2024 setlist was:
‘Veronica Mars’
‘Docket’
‘Cartoon Earthquake’
‘Sepsis’
New track – title not revealed
‘Joiner’
‘Sober Together’
‘Tna’ – New track
‘Olympus’
‘Dangerous’
‘Jane Says’ – Jane’s Addiction cover
‘Kiss City’
‘Tarmac’
’Salad’
Last year, Blondshell revealed she had already written her follow up to her 2023 self-titled debut album. In an interview with The Forty Five, she discussed the new themes she’d been exploring in the process: “I wrote about a lot of different subjects through talking about dating and now I’m just trying to talk about those subjects directly.”
The LA-based artist also spoke about the struggles of writing when you’re in a happy relationship — something she revealed she’d discussed with Samia. “When you’re someone who’s written about heartbreak so much, how do you continue to write songs when you’re in a stable relationship? She and I are both in relationships, but then I realised, well, [Wilco frontman] Jeff Tweedy has been married for so long. And they put out an album every year, so…”
In June last year, Blondshell featured on NME‘s The Cover where she spoke out about how ageism in the music industry made her feel “too old” to be a success.
“There’s that horrible thing where people say you have to be under a certain age to be a musician, and I felt that because it was explicitly said to me,” she said at the time. “The idea was always there through media and people talking about the music industry – there was always an emphasis on youth and this idea that you write your best songs before a certain age.”
NME gave Blondshell’s 2023 debut album a glowing five-star review, with Thomas Smith calling it, “One of the alternative rock albums of the year, and one to treasure tightly for quite some time.”
Still set to come this weekend at Glastonbury 2024 are performances from SZA, Janelle Monae, The National, Two Door Cinema Club, Avril Lavigne, Justice, Nia Archives, James Blake, Alvvays, Romy and more.
Camila Cabello’s chaotic set scored a three-star rating, while Dua Lipa’s Friday headlining performance earned her four stars. IDLES and Fontaines D.C nabbed perfect five-star ratings as did the festival’s first K-pop performers SEVENTEEN.
Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos, rumours and more from Glastonbury 2024. Check out the NME liveblog here for all the latest Glastonbury action as it happens.