In 2010, on their Light Me Up album, The Pretty Reckless released one of my favourite tracks, “Make Me Wanna Die”. It remains high on my playlist and, as a consequence, I always keep an eye on what the band are doing.
Taylor Momsen (vocals, rhythm guitar)
Ben Phillips (lead guitar, backing vocals)
Mark Damon (bass)
Jamie Perkins (drums)
Although the current heatwave is making me tired, and this is mid-afternoon listening for an album that really suits the night, I am looking forward to exploring this 2026 release. Released today (June 26, 2026), it is now available on all platforms. It features 14 tracks (double-album length in old parlance) and runs for just over 50 minutes. As I put on my headphones, the sound of thunder rumbles overhead—perhaps prophetic of what is to come.
The album cover is very simple: a grey wall bearing a Passion Cross. In Christian tradition and heraldry, a cross with sharpened points, known as a cross barbée or cross aiguisée, represents the nails and suffering endured by Jesus during the Crucifixion. It also carries associations with Irish history during the Penal Laws. The artwork suggests a bargaining with the divine and continues the band’s long-standing fascination with Christian imagery—Heaven, Hell, God and the Devil—as metaphors for salvation, struggle, good and evil.
“Life Evermore Pt. 2” – A 43-second introduction: “the cancer had grown”… and “life evermore” – a thought to begin with.
“For I Am Death” – “For I am Death (destroyer of worlds)” is a quote from the Bhagavad Gita, a line from Vishnu famously appropriated by Oppenheimer. This track opens with a heavy, blunted riff. It is a melodically heavy, riff-driven track with a powerful vocal performance centred on resistance in the face of suffering. “It was nice to know you,” but when your hands remain on the wheel you can find the one who tried to bring you down. “For I am Death and all alone.”
“When I Wake Up” has a brash punk attitude in the guitar work, a solid drum sound, and carries the message that you can continue regardless, even when you wake up and can’t remember where you were the night before. I still hold to my view that this is night-time listening. Put this album on around the witching hour and you’ll probably get the very best from it.
“Love Me” sings of depression alongside an acoustic guitar—depression born from betrayal when you have committed no crime. The song is directed towards God, asking why there is no one to love me. Strangely, it is a sister song, lyrically, to “Somebody to Love” (Freddie Mercury’s greatest song in my opinion). I liked this track a great deal. The drums echo the vocals, reminding us that we all simply need someone to care. It also echoes the album cover: “Why won’t you answer my prayer?”
“Dragonfire” opens with some very fine guitar work that transports me south during a long, dry spell where everything burns like dragonfire. Superb guitar work and a vocal performance that absolutely nails the emotion. “By the pricking of my thumbs…” comes to free the maiden waiting in the tower. Lyrically, the song blends fairy-tale imagery with fire and fury.
“Dear God” – At 6:08 this is the longest track on the album. Slow, heavy, contemplative and emotive, it asks whether God can lift us higher and keep us from the fire. Would God intervene? I don’t know, but there is an emotional edge running throughout this album that The Pretty Reckless deliver exceptionally well, and it is certainly present here. It is a little more accessible than some of the other tracks, but it occupies the centre of the album for a reason.
“Life Evermore Pt. 3” – Forty-two more seconds of drunken love when you never wanted the other—and I thought you should know.
“About You” is commercial radio-friendly. It is an energetic track with a great chorus. I would suggest this is made for those summer festival crowds, a drink in hand and the sun beating down. No need for sleep—move along in the fast lane. You’ll enjoy this one.
“Spell on You” opens with some childhood dialogue, but what does the bad witch say? “Hating everything about you down to the bone.” I put a spell on you (and I made a doll for you!). This is a song of pure hatred for someone you have finally had enough of. I liked it. Funnily enough, returning to Freddie Mercury for a moment, he found himself in trouble over the line in “Death on Two Legs”: “Do you feel like suicide? I think you should.” If you like voodoo dolls, needles and hatred—“If I was a witch, I’d make a brew”—then this song is absolutely for you.
“Rollercoaster of Life” – Think of a solitary candle burning down on a dark night. Think of the rollercoaster of life and all the opportunities it provides for things to go wrong. There may be vampires on the beach, but this song puts them firmly in their place. Not my favourite on the album, but there is enough chilli in the bite for it to belong.
“Eye of the Storm” notes that everything has gone to hell. It reflects upon the inequalities of society while we walk the streets barefoot, the drums beating out the rhythm of that journey. One of the reasons I connect with The Pretty Reckless is that they write about life, breakdowns, hatred and despair, allowing the music to carry us through them.
“Devil in Disguise” (Michelle’s Song) – At 2:40 this acoustic number is the most intimate piece on the album. “Did I see Jesus, or the Devil in Disguise?” This is one of those songs to sway gently to, reminding us that you cannot have the good without the bad. It is what it is, I suppose.
“Dark Days” opens with the sound of thunder (interesting, as thunder is now outside as well as inside my headphones). It is a song about finding the lost and where that journey may lead. Dark days are coming—perhaps they are already here. The track fuses religious imagery with themes of harmony and sadness, angels and visions, creating an effective juxtaposition between hope and darkness. It is one of the highlights of the album.
“Life Evermore Pt. 1” – Forty-three seconds to close the album and bring everything full circle.
Dear God is not an album built for casual background listening. It demands attention, rewards patience and is best experienced from beginning to end, preferably long after the sun has gone down. The Pretty Reckless continue to explore faith, doubt, mortality and survival with conviction, wrapping those themes in heavy riffs, memorable melodies and another commanding vocal performance from Taylor Momsen. If you have followed the band over the years, there is plenty here to appreciate, while newcomers will discover a group still willing to take emotional and musical risks. I am just ordering my copy on vinyl on the strength of the listen – and that is a very good sign.
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You can stream music from The Pretty Reckless here
By Mark C. Chambers
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