When most think of Christmas music, they imagine familiar chestnuts, soft snow, warm hearths, and gentle choirs. But this season, the Pretty Reckless offers something different: a rock-fueled holiday soundtrack that doesn’t trade festive warmth for clichés but reshapes Christmas with grit, emotion, and truth.
Taylor Momsen's Pretty Reckless Christmas arrives at a moment when many of us want something real, and this EP delivers.
From the opening chord of the reimagined classic “Where Are You Christmas?,” we feel the intention: this isn’t a soft holiday ballad. It’s a grown-up prayer, a rock hymn dressed in Christmas lights.
The Pretty Reckless' Taylor Momsen refreshes Christimas completely
The band takes a song once associated with childhood innocence and nostalgia and transforms it, layering it with heavy guitars, moody atmospheres, and the raw voice of frontwoman Taylor Momsen, now seasoned, powerful, and full of lived experience.
But the EP doesn’t stop at the reinvention of a classic. It offers new songs. Tracks like “I Wanna Be Your Christmas Tree” and “Christmas Is Killing Me” don’t shy away from honesty.
Loneliness, longing, and the strange mix of warmth and melancholy that often comes with the holidays make the EP more complete. These aren’t sugary anthems. They are confessions. Moments of vulnerability wrapped in distorted riffs and haunting melodies.
In a time when so many holiday records feel recycled, same melodies, soft drums, lazy sentiment, the Pretty Reckless stands out by embracing contrast. They remind us that winter nights don’t always feel cozy and that the holidays can be loud, aching, and beautiful. This EP doesn’t pretend to be comforting; it chooses to be honest.
That honesty extends beyond the music. The decision to release this EP in late October/early November isn’t a cynical move for playlist dominance; it feels deliberate. It signals: we don’t wait for December to begin the season. We bring our truth forward. We set the mood early. We invite the world to feel every note, every memory, every flicker of pain and hope as the year closes.
For fans of traditional holiday cheer, this might be a shock. For those craving something deeper, a soundtrack that mirrors real emotions, not only wrapped gifts, this EP is exactly what the season needed. It reminds us that rock, too, can celebrate, not with glitter and comfort, but with fire, truth, and raw heart.
This Christmas, if you’re looking for something that feels real, that aches a little, that refuses to sugarcoat, put on Taylor Momsen’s Pretty Reckless Christmas. It’s rock. It’s winter. It’s honest. And above all, it’s beautiful.