More about: The Pretty Reckless

The Pretty Reckless have had a hard time these past couple of years. After losing their close friend Chris Cornell to suicide in 2017, their world got even darker less than a year later when the news broke that their long-time producer Kato Khandwala had been killed in a motorcycle accident. In the midst of such grief and trauma, there was a time when making new music was unthinkable. But out of the ashes, The Pretty Reckless have risen once again with Death by Rock and Roll. Taylor Momsen thinks it might just be e their best album yet.

“The title came from our producer and my best friend Kato'' she says of the deceptively-named Death by Rock and Roll. It might sound morbid, but Momsen maintains that it’s a lot more hopeful than you’d think. “To me, it means live life your own way, go out your own way. The ultimate freedom: rock and roll ‘til I die”. It’s a code that the band have lived by since their formation 12 years ago and a celebration of the music that has – ironically – saved her life.

Making this record was like nothing they’ve ever experienced before. “This album was slightly different to our previous records in the fact that I didn’t have to search for inspiration. I had an abundance of it thrown at me whether I wanted it or not”, Momsen says. Grief is at the heart of these songs. The Pretty Reckless have refused to shy away from the tragedies that they’ve faced, instead using this album as a major part of the healing process. It was a difficult journey, but it was ultimately one that did them a lot of good. “It is inspiration at its purest. It made for something extraordinarily unique and special. I really do believe that this album is the best we’ve ever made”.

Just as they were ready to show the world what they had made, everything went into lockdown. After the emotional difficulty of actually writing Death by Rock and Roll, there was going to be a longer wait, and this time the trauma was on a global level. There were lots of reasons to delay the album, not least of all the issue of touring. Momsen explains their decision to delay, saying: “it feels very weird releasing music, especially a full album, and not being able to support it by going on the road and playing songs with fans every night. The circle doesn’t quite feel complete”. Eventually though, the album had to come out. Years had passed since writing first began: “We released a song called 25 which I wrote and recorded when I was 24, turning 25. I’m now 27. I thought, ‘we can’t put this album out when I’m 30: I can’t sit on this music forever.' I’m so incredibly proud of it and I really want to share it.” So they picked a date at random and prepared for release.

Now, that moment is finally here. So, if she had to single out one song, which one is she most excited for fans to hear? “If I had to pick, I am really proud and really excited for people to hear 'Only Love Can Save Me Now' which features Matt Cameron and Kim Thayill [Soundgarden’s drummer and guitarist, respectively] because I think that that one is extraordinarily special and one that I’m incredibly proud of”. It was a full-circle moment. The Pretty Reckless had been touring with Chris Cornell just before his death, and his influence is palpable on this track. The experience of working with Cameron and Thayill was, in her words, “a highlight of my whole career by far”.

While crafting such a deeply personal record, Momsen realised that handing it over to someone else for production just wouldn’t feel right, so Death by Rock and Roll is the first Pretty Reckless album to be co-produced by Momsen and lead guitarist Ben Phillips, alongside close collaborator Jonathan Wyman. “This record was too personal, and we were too inside of it to pass it off to someone else and let them do what they will with it,” she explains. “We really poured all of ourselves into it and that includes production”.

This level of personal involvement has allowed The Pretty Reckless to reach new heights in crafting their sound, with no single song defining the album as a whole. One standout track that must be mentioned, however, is 'Broomsticks'. A 40-second, spooky-sounding interlude that connects parts of the album together is desribed by Momsen as a “little twist that carries you on the journey and takes you to the next step of the story”. Inspired by her love of Halloween and The Beatles’ use of interludes on their records, it acts as a mechanism that links with the themes of 'Witches Burn', but also that stands apart as a piece of music in its own right.

As you can expect, it’s going to be a while before we hear any of these tracks live. But which songs are the band most excited to bring to the stage? “All of them. Anything off Death by Rock and Roll, anything off our previous albums, I just miss playing” answers Momsen. The earlier singles from Death by Rock and Roll are well overdue a live performance – “the title track came out back in May, and it went to number one in America. It’s so strange to have a number one song and we’ve still never played it live in front of an audience”.

It comes across that the lack of live music is getting to Momsen as much as it’s getting to the audience who are hungry for a mosh pit. But she has some advice for anyone struggling with the absence of gigs: “if everyone can remember that we do have these amazing things called stereos and speakers and albums, you’ve just gotta put on your own mini-concerts at home and enjoy the record”. But it’s advice she must take on board herself, too. “As much as I love the acoustic guitar, I’m really missing electricity at this point”.

No one knows the healing power of music like Taylor Momsen. She recalls the darkest moments of the last few years as the times when not even her favourite records could bring her joy. She describes what she did to get back what she was missing:

“I started listening to The Beatles, and I listened to every Beatles record and every demo they ever made. The whole anthology. From that, it led into all the other bands: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd... Which eventually lead to me being able to listen to Soundgarden again and have it bring me joy instead of great sorrow.”

It was the turning point that put her on the road to making Death by Rock and Roll; the push that she needed to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They never had the sense that this album could play the same role as The Beatles did for her: “I never think about the outside world when I’m making art, I simply make it for myself”. But as the release date inches nearer, they’ve started to think about it from a listener’s perspective and she hopes that this record “can bring some hope to the people who listen to it”. Grief and trauma have become commonplace in the last year, and an album that deals with the most difficult topics so candidly is exactly what we need.

She’s found her balance again. She talks at length about the artists that she’s listening to right now: Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden, Oasis, Pink Floyd; she details the calming ritual of putting on Jimi Hendrix and The Doors while she cooks her dinner. It’s obvious that she’s closer to finding that balance that she’s looking for and that Death by Rock and Roll has played an integral part in her journey.

“As clichéd as it sounds, rock and roll has saved my life, time and time again,” she says, “but this last time around, quite literally”. 

Death by Rock and Roll is out now.

More about: The Pretty Reckless