The Pretty Reckless - Taylor Momsen's Pretty Reckless Christmas EP
- Samuel Stevens
- Oct 30
- 3 min read
Few bands have mastered the art of fusing darkness and beauty quite like The Pretty Reckless, and this holiday season, they’re unwrapping a surprise that no one saw coming. Taylor Momsen’s Pretty Reckless Christmas EP finds the chart-topping rock band embracing the spirit of the season—without sacrificing their trademark edge. Released digitally on October 31, 2025, via Fearless Records, this seven-track EP proves that holiday music can still smoulder with distortion, attitude, and soul.
The centrepieces of the record are a full-circle moment twenty-five years in the making: a reimagined version of “Christmas, Why Can't I Find You?” and “Where Are You, Christmas?”, a pair of songs Taylor Momsen first performed as a child actress playing Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). No longer the wide-eyed girl wondering about the meaning of the season, Momsen now approaches the tracks as a weathered storyteller.
On “Christmas, Why Can't I Find You?” Taylor Momsen and crew deliver a full-blown piano ballad with it ending with Momsen's present voice crossfading over to her original recorded vocal take from twenty-five years ago. Whereas on “Where Are You, Christmas?”, her voice is husky, powerful, and filled with lived-in emotion. What was once a tender ballad is now transformed into a cathartic rock anthem, complete with soaring guitar solos and a stormy rhythm section that builds to a cinematic crescendo. The two tracks are reverent to the original’s heart but reframed through the lens of Momsen’s journey—from child star to rock icon.
Beyond the nostalgia-driven centrepiece, the EP boasts four brand-new originals that showcase the band’s range and charisma. “Blues on Christmas” opens the EP with soft strummed, bluesy acoustic guitar before a smoky guitar solo rings out, and a sultry vocal delivery that feels like Joan Jett fronting a winter blues revue. The follow-up track, “Christmas Is Killing Me,” captures the chaos of the holiday grind with a biting sense of humour and punk-rock snarl—proof that even seasonal stress can sound good when filtered through The Pretty Reckless’ distortion pedals.
“I Wanna Be Your Christmas Tree” injects a playful, doo-wop-infused swagger, turning flirtation into a sleigh bell-laced classic rock number. Meanwhile, the very brief acoustic tune, “When We Were Young,” brings the EP to an emotional peak, a reflective slow-burner that channels the bittersweet nostalgia of the season. Momsen’s vocal performance here is one of her finest—gravelly yet delicate, filled with the ache of memory and the warmth of gratitude.
But it’s the thematic throughline that makes Taylor Momsen’s Pretty Reckless Christmas more than just a novelty release. Beneath the sleigh bells and distortion, the band explores what the holidays mean to a generation that’s grown up, faced loss, and found solace in music. Momsen described revisiting “Where Are You, Christmas?” as “coming home to a part of myself I hadn’t seen in a long time,” and that sentiment bleeds through every note of the EP. It’s about rediscovering wonder in a world that’s tried its best to harden you.
Sonically, the production—handled once again by longtime collaborator Jonathan Wyman alongside the band—strikes a balance between grit and gloss. The guitars shimmer like tinsel; the drums hit like thunder in the snow. And through it all, Momsen’s voice remains the guiding star—commanding, vulnerable, and unmistakably authentic.
With Taylor Momsen’s Pretty Reckless Christmas, The Pretty Reckless deliver a rare gift: a holiday album that feels both nostalgic and defiantly modern. It’s festive without being saccharine, heartfelt without losing its bite. For fans, it’s a bit of a celebration of everything they love about the band; for newcomers, it’s a perfect entry point wrapped in holiday lights and feedback fuzz.
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