The Pretty Reckless’ Collaboration With Soundgarden Is Grunge Bliss
Taylor Momsen has been teasing the Pretty Reckless' collaboration with members of Soundgarden for quite a while now, calling it a "five-minute epic" — and she's right. "Only Love Can Save Me Now" is incredible, and since Death By Rock and Roll is out today (Feb. 12), you can finally hear it.
The Pretty Reckless were the opening band on Soundgarden's 2017 spring tour, which would be Chris Cornell's last, but the ties go back way further. Momsen often cites the Beatles and Soundgarden as the common ground she shares with her bandmates in terms of influences.
Momsen was invited to perform with the surviving members of Soundgarden in 2019 at the "I Am the Highway" Cornell tribute show, where she formed an even closer bond with them. Later that year, the singer posted photographs with both Matt Cameron and Kim Thayil from the legendary London Bridge Studio in Seattle, where Soundgarden recorded their sophomore album Louder Than Love. At that point, it was obvious they were working on something together.
Shortly after the release of the single "Death By Rock and Roll" in the spring of 2020, Momsen confirmed that there was going to be a song on the new record that featured Thayil and Cameron.
"When I wrote it, I called Matt and I called Kim and I sent them the demo and I went, 'Guys — would you guys be interested in playing on this? Because if you don't, it's just gonna sound like we're ripping you guys off,'" the frontwoman said on the Spotify podcast Rock This With Allison Hagendorf.
"It has this very kind of Soundgarden-esque feel to it, and I really wanted their voice to be a part of it. Because it just wouldn't be the same without 'em, and man, was I correct," she teased.
For Soundgarden fans who have been longing to hear Thayil and Cameron play together on something new, "Only Love Can Save Me Now" will be beyond satiating. Odd time signatures, Thayil's distinctly deep and sludgy guitar tone and Cameron's thunderous percussion rounds out the Soundgarden feel completely.
Then Momsen starts singing and you are quickly reminded you aren't actually listening to a Soundgarden song, though the airy effect on her vocals is reminiscent of the Badmotorfinger song "Searching With My Good Eye Closed."
And that solo from Thayil? Wow.
This is the Pretty Reckless, playing with their heroes and simultaneously paying the ultimate homage to their legacy. And though he's no longer with us, we know Cornell would love it.
Listen to the song and read its lyrics below, as well as the rest of their brand new studio album, Death By Rock and Roll, underneath
The Pretty Reckless - "Only Love Can Save Me Now"
"Only Love Can Save Me Now" Lyrics
Heaven's falling out of the sky
Sends a message to you and I
See people crawling out of their trees
Chained to sickness, the dogs are free
I wanna be saved
I wanna be saved
From the sound, the sound
The world is spitting out
Only love can save me now
Gone so down, lost is all I found
Only love, love, love can save me now
Drowning madly in deep blue seas
Waves of sadness swallow me
No soul can hear me beneath the weight
No gods or saviors, no hands of fate
I wanna be saved
I wanna be saved
From the sound, the sound
The world is spitting out
Only love can save me now
Gone so down, lost is all I found
Only love, love, love can save me now
I wanna be saved
I wanna be saved
I wanna be saved
I wanna be saved
From the sound, the sound
The world is spitting out
Only love can save me now
Gone so down, lost is all I found
Only love, love, love can save me now