Dear God, what a fucking album.
And honestly, I could probably end this review right here because it sums it up pretty well. But where’s the fun in that?
Five years after Death by Rock and Roll, The Pretty Reckless are back with their fifth studio album, Dear God. And somehow, they didn’t just meet the ridiculously high expectations built over the past few months – they completely nuked them.
I was so eager to finally put my hands and ears on this one -a release on my birthday, no less. What a gift – for the past few months were just a total tease with flawless singles, hitting us each time harder.
Talk about foreplay.
What?
It’s a mood. And it fits for once. Put the prude pitchfork down.
Where were we?
Oh yeah.
Dear God.
An album that will probably make you whisper, and very likely groan and moan, those two words more than once. I already said put the pitchfork down and get over it.
Fourteen tracks that will stick to your skin and drag you through decadent rock ‘n’ roll, towering riffs, haunting melodies, and enough raw emotion to leave you emotionally bruised by the time the last note fades away.
Taylor Momsen described it as « the most honest record we have ever made » and it’s definitely not just another promotional quote. Every single song sounds lived in. Nothing to hide, everything out in the open. Doubt, anger, grief, all the way to vulnerable hope, and every uncomfortable emotion in between.
The album is punctuated with short interludes, Life Evermore, that almost feel like pit stops at the crossroads. It starts with one of those and yet doesn’t feel like an introduction but more like opening a wound that needs to be healed. And maybe this album will. Who knows, we’ve only just begun.
Just tiny pauses reminding us that we all get to live multiple lives within one lifetime.
The beauty of it?
None of them happen in chronological order.
Which is probably the most realistic way to look at life anyway. Shit happens. Beautiful things happen too. Nothing ever follows the script, so you might as well go with the flow.
And that flow is one hell of a ride. I won’t make the joke here because y’all are going to send me to horny jail again, but know I’m thinking it really, REALLY hard.
For what comes next is none other than For I Am Death – see how good I’m behaving?! A song we’ve grown fond of for many reasons over the past year, and what a joy to see it finds its perfect place on the album. Literally crawls under your skin in the best way. Part menace, part salvation. Part every feel else. The perfect bridge between the old era and everything Dear God is trying to become.
Then comes When I Wake Up – and probably all of us. Just go watch that music video again, stop judging me.
See? Age restricted. Not making shit up. That MV sent pretty much everyone collectively straight to oblivion.
Absolute mayhem. Complete panic. For good reasons.
But jokes aside, underneath the pile of bodies – fine I’ll stop – probably lies one of the bravest songs Taylor Momsen has ever written. Damn. It takes guts to expose yourself like that.
Thankfully, the girlie has more balls than most men in this industry and isn’t afraid to call out uncomfortable truths when she has to.
And vocally?
I genuinely think this might be the best she’s ever sounded. And that’s the absolute truth all along the album.
Her voice becomes a climactic roar one second before collapsing into heartbreaking vulnerability the next. That signature rasp will give you goosebumps, but it’s those softer moments that really sneak up on you. Like someone gently putting the shattered pieces back together after spending four minutes smashing them against the wall. Patch me up, Taylor, I am begging.
And of course, those big guitars aren’t here just for show, but more so to make things bigger than they are. They’re here to strip everything down to its ugliest, most vulnerable truth. Ben Phillips once again proves why he’s one of modern rock’s most underrated guitar players, delivering riffs that don’t simply sound heavy – they feel heavy. And that definitely adds to that weakness in your knees.
And then comes Love Me. Forget about patching me up guys, I just want to throw myself into a pit and yell until my lungs give out. Someone give me a pillow to scream into or a hot blonde to cuddle with, please.
What a song. Of course we’ll love you, girlie, but stop breaking our hearts like that, goddammit. This song somehow raises the emotional stakes even further. It’s impossible not to feel every word.
And that’s the beauty of this album: its humanity.
There’s such a powerful vulnerability to those songs, a roaring fire baring your soul, or I guess, their own. On the surface it looks like a big slap in the face, but it gets very personal very fast. Just packed with anger, regret, and frustration woven together with a heavy dose of introspection, hope, and ultimately an unreal amount of resilience. I love albums that sound like life.
This band have always been masters of balancing brute force with melody, but here everything sounds more intentional, more real. No metaphors to soften the blow. No pretending everything is alright. Just raw honesty and a maturity – unlike me – that makes it all so relatable. That’s probably what impressed me the most throughout the entire record. Nothing feels manufactured. The production leaves plenty of room for emotions to live free. Theirs and yours.
And those will hit you relentlessly with every song, like being caught in the eye of the storm and fighting for survival or, yeah, riding the most insane rollercoaster you ever experienced – that one’s on you, I didn’t say anything.
Ironically, one of the lightest songs on the album is called Rollercoaster of Life. A song surprisingly light and easygoing in a kinda Chili Peppers’ tradition – never taking the spice out even on the slower ones, eh.
Funkier than expected, breezier than the rest of the record, yet never feeling out of place. Because in a sense, that’s exactly what life is. You can be laughing your ass off one minute before everything falls apart the next. The album understands that duality better than most records I’ve heard in years.
But don’t relax just yet.
The rest of it is a way wilder ride and taps into every possible human emotion. You’ll spend most of these fourteen tracks alternating between wanting to burn it all down, hugging the girlie because somebody clearly needs to – and I happily volunteer – and, if I hadn’t made it clear enough, taking a few cold showers because she definitely knows which buttons to push to make you slide off your chair.
NO BONK just yet, I have more things to talk about.
What struck me the most – and yes, surprisingly it wasn’t the latter – was just how mature this record feels.
Lyrically.
Musically.
Emotionally.
Everything about Dear God feels grounded. Confident. Like a band that knows exactly who they are and has absolutely nothing left to prove. The whole album feels remarkably cohesive. Fourteen tracks woven together so seamlessly that every detour feels intentional, every twist earned. Even though you have it all.
Aggressive garage rock. Towering hard rock riffs that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Bluesy swagger. Emotionally devastating folk on songs like Dragonfire. Even unexpected grooves that somehow feel right at home.
It’s rock ‘n’ roll in its purest form. A puzzle made from decades of musical influences, carefully pieced together without ever sounding borrowed. Everything belongs exactly where it should. And sounds exactly like this band.
The Pretty Reckless never try to chase trends. They simply keep refining what they already do best, digging deeper instead of wider. And that’s exactly what makes this whole album feel so authentic.
If I may use that pun one more time…
Dear God.
What a band.
WHAT A BAND.
Let’s wrap this up before y’all get sick of me again.
If I had to pick one personal highlight, it would probably be About You.
Not because it’s the biggest song.
Not because it’s the heaviest.
But because it tapped into something that’s been buried somewhere deep inside me for a very long time. I’m still not entirely sure what it is, and maybe that’s the beauty of it. Some songs aren’t meant to give you answers. They’re just here to make you feel.
But I’ll happily spend the next few months trying to figure it out with this one on repeat.
Big props to Eye of the Storm and Devil in disguise (Michelle’s song) too, that are another level of beauty and songs to keep close to your heart. A brief moment of calm in the middle of the chaos, proving once again that Taylor Momsen shines just as brightly in vulnerability as she does in sheer power. We all know she can tear the roof off on the heavier tracks, but it’s those softer moments that hit me the hardest. Her voice becomes less of a weapon and more of a comfort hug. She might steal a tear or two, but it’s a balm to the soul.
And of course, that closer song. Promising Dark Days and yet quietly bringing everything back down to earth.
Not with despair.
With contemplation.
With acceptance, I guess.
With enough space between the notes to finally breathe. To process everything you’ve just lived through. Yes, you’ll feel emotionally drained, but strangely enough, Dear God never really leaves you in the dark.
On paper, this album tackles mortality, grief, depression, addiction, and loneliness.
It shouldn’t leave you feeling hopeful.
And yet… it somehow does.
Because beneath all that darkness lies something even stronger.
Resilience.
The courage to keep going.
The strength that comes from finally allowing yourself to be vulnerable instead of pretending you’ve got everything under control. Or maybe that’s just the sound of being yourself.
That’s what authenticity sounds like.
That’s what empowerment sounds like.
No gimmicks.
No bullshit.
No chasing algorithms.
Just four musicians making the most personal record of their career.
Some of these songs are going to stick to your skin for a very long time. And for what I’ve seen just a few days ago, those live versions are only going to make it worse in the best way.
What will they say about you?
I’m not entirely sure yet.
But I’m hella ready to find out.
Dear God, The Pretty Reckless, you’ve definitely put a spell on me with this one.
Can’t wait to see you again on the road somewhere.
And…
Now if you’ll excuse me,
It’s time for that cold shower.
Or a few.
