Sabrina Teitelbaum (aka Blondshell) wants more joy in her songs. But that can be a problem because happiness is not a productive state for her songwriting process.  "When I'm happy, I don't feel the need to write as much," she told me.

No matter her emotional state, though, the key Teitelbaum's fruitful songwriting process is not making it look too much like a process. The more precious she makes the process, the harder it can be to write. "Normalizing it makes me more productive," she says. For example, Teitelbaum often finds herself inspired at inopportune times, like when she's rushing to get somewhere. Yet some awareness of what works is important too, which is why I love the perfect balance in her credo: "Know your process but respect the mystery."

Blondshell's self-titled debut album is out now on Partisan Records.  It's really, really good.