Formed in New York City in 2008, hard rockers The Pretty Reckless made a big impression with their debut album, 2010’s Light Me Up. It spawned a series of singles before the band dropped the follow-up Going To Hell in 2014. That album’s third single, Messed Up World, was something of a breakthrough track for the band, charting as it did at number one in Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs chart. The group’s third studio album, Who You Selling For, dropped in 2016, and was also a commercial success.

Comprised of Taylor Momsen (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Ben Phillips (lead guitar, backing vocals), Mark Damon (bass) and Jamie Perkins (drums), The Pretty Reckless specialise in classic hard rock, with big riffs and thumping drums. Momsen’s hugely powerful vocals are one of the band’s calling cards and their new single, And So It Went, is another great example of the richness of her voice.

Featuring Tom Morello, And So It Went builds from an atmospheric intro into a riff-heavy rollercoaster of a track, that rises and falls frequently. It’s equal parts high-octane, all-out rock and gentler, introspective verses, and even features a choir. It all adds up to a hugely compelling affair, in which Momsen’s voice arguably peaks with the track’s defiant breakdown, in which she asserts that: “They said the world does not belong to you / You are not the king, I am not the fool / They said the world does not belong to you / It don't belong to you / It belongs to me”.

With almost two million monthly Spotify listeners, and a recent appearance on the cover of the streaming platform’s hard rock playlist, it’s clear The Pretty Reckless are now very much rock royalty. And So It Went is something of a teaser for the band’s upcoming new album Death By Rock And Roll, which is out on 12 February, and based on this new single it’s worth waiting for.

Watch the official lyric video for And So It Went .be">here. Find out more and pre-order Death By Rock And Roll on The Pretty Reckless’s official website.

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.