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Taylor Momsen realizes “beautiful full circle moment” on The Pretty Reckless’ Soundgarden collaboration

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Courtesy Fearless Records

Taylor Momsen realizes a lifelong dream with The Pretty Reckless‘ latest single, “Only Love Can Save Me Now,” which features Soundgarden‘s Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron.

Not only did Momsen get to collaborate with two members of one of her all-time favorite bands, the track was recorded at Seattle’s London Bridge Studio, where albums including Soundgarden’s Louder than Love, Pearl Jam‘s Ten and Alice in ChainsDirt were born.

“I’m a firm believer that places are kinda like people,” Momsen tells ABC Audio. “They hold memories and they hold energy. Walking into that studio, you could feel the energy of all those records that were made there previously.”

She adds, “To be in such an iconic space with Matt and Kim creating something new was…just, for me, this really beautiful full circle moment.”

Momsen recalls that when she first started jamming the song with Thayil and Cameron, it felt like the “speakers just exploded.”

“I was like, ‘Yes, that’s how I’ve been hearing it. That’s how this song is supposed to sound,'” she remembers. “They added their just undeniable, unparalleled weight that no one other than them can make and can do.”

As a guitar player, Momsen was particular entranced by Thayil, who she likens to a “wizard from another planet.”

“I’m watching what he’s doing, and it doesn’t add up,” she says. “I don’t understand how he’s creating that much sound and — I don’t even know how to describe it — that massive sonic atmosphere.”

“Only Love Can Save Me Now” appears on the new Pretty Reckless album Death by Rock and Roll, and is, understandably, one of Momsen’s favorites on the record.

“I’m not supposed to pick favorites, because they’re all like my children,” she laughs. “But I’d be lying to you if I said it wasn’t.”

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