By Tom Lanham

ou ’ ve got to hand it to perfectionist Pretty Reckless anchor Taylor Momsen . Aesthetically , the 27-yearold knows exactly what she wants , down to the smallest accent -- the minute , meticulous attention to detail you rarely experience these haphazard , slapdash days . To summarize her quartet ’ s mortality-themed new album Death By Rock and Roll , its fourth , she decided she wanted a single cover photograph . And not just some random one , but a Helmut Newton-edgy portrait of herself nude , recumbent over an actual grave , with her Rapunzel-length blonde tresses tastefully draped across any risque bits . To shoot the exotic picture , she chose classy shutterbug Danny Hastings , whom she ’ d worked with before on 2014 ’ s steamy Going to Hell frontispiece . Then she laid out just what she demanded of the artwork .

“ I took a lot of time conceiving this album cover ,” says the ex-Gossip Girl star , who admits that her horizons clouded over after the 2017 death of Chris Cornell , who had just invited her group to open a Soundgarden tour when he passed , and the 2019 motorcycle accident of her longtime friend and producer Kato Khandwala , who first introduced her to band guitarist / co-writer Ben Phillips when she was still acting on TV in her teens . In mourning their loss , she sank into clinical depression , substance abuse , and lethargy so consuming that she could have easily joined the notorious 27 Club of dead rock stars herself .; She ’ s grateful that she ’ s survived to tell the tale . “ But record covers are tricky in one way because you spend so long writing and recording a new album , so how do you sum up this whole elaborate

journey that it took you a really long time to make in one photograph ? It ’ s nearly impossible .

“ So there are a lot of layers to this photo ,” she continues , phoning from her hideaway in Maine . “ Visually , I wanted it to be very raw and very pure and very vulnerable , but also very aggressive . I wanted it to show all the dynamics of the album itself in simply one photograph . I wanted to sum up all these things , but the word ‘ rebirth ’ kept entering my mind because this record feels like a rebirth in so many ways .” Then she got to thinking about how you ’ re born into this world naked , with nothing but your soul , and that ’ s how you depart it , as well — could that be encapsulated in Hastings ’ frame , too ? Along with the lighting , carefully morphing from shadow to candle-bright as it flickers across Momsen ’ s face ? That would represent the dark to the uplifting lyrical arc of “ Death ,” from the title track ( which opens with a recording of Khandwala ’ s footsteps ) to the epic power ballad “ 25 ,” the geargrinding grunge of “ Only Love Can Save Me Now ” ( featuring cameos from Soundgarden ’ s Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron ), the squealing Tom OMorelloassisted , “ And So it Went ,” to the reverent coda “ Harley Darling ” ( Momsen ’ s farewell tribute to Khandwala ). And the photographer dutifully ticked off every request box .

“ I loved working with him because he ’ s such an artist ’ s artist ,” the singer purrs of Hastings , a successful video director who has shot everyone from the Wu-Tang Clan to Jay-Z , Eminem , and P . Diddy . “ His whole goal is to see your vision through and not get in the way of it . So that ’ s a real grave that we built on a real set , and those

leaves are real leaves . Granted , we did it inside a studio , so I wasn ’ t freezing my tits off , but it was all very real .” And if you thought that photograph was racy , she teases , wait ’ til you get a glimpse of the one inside the vinyl gatefold . “ That was the one that I really wanted to be on the cover , but for , umm , obvious reasons , we couldn ’ t do it , so we put it inside the vinyl edition .”

And if you don ’ t sense the sheer life-ordeath gravity of what Momsen endured from either visual , read on . She ’ ll spell it out for you .

IE : Let ’ s fast-forward here for a second . Given that you ’ re entering your Renaissance period , and with all the streaming outlets like Hulu and Netflix out there looking for new content , have you considered going back into acting lately ? TAYLOR MOMSEN : Ummm , no . Sadly , no . That was such a past life of mine , and it was never even a true passion of mine by any means . It was just something that I did when I was younger , so it ’ s not something that I see myself ever really pursuing again . But — having said that — we live in really strange times right now , so you should never actually say never , because who knows what the future will hold in the long run of my life . But no , it ’ s not something I ’ m actively pursuing . I like watching TV — I don ’ t want actually to be ON it . I like watching the shows .

IE : What have you found yourself watching ? TM : I feel like I hit the wall a while ago , where I hit the end of Netflix , and I didn ’ t

think that was possible . I ’ ve watched everything . I was really into Ozark when that was on — I love Jason Bateman , and I thought that show was just fantastically well done . Currently , I ’ m obsessed with WandaVision on Disney + right now — I think it ’ s immaculate , and it ’ s something I look forward to every week . And I ’ m a huge Law & Order : SVU fan , and they ’ re finally starting to air new episodes — a new one comes out this Thursday , so I ’ m looking forward to that . But honestly , I ’ ve kind of hit the point now in COVID where — if I watch television at all — I ’ m kind of going back to comfort shows and a lot of comedy , things I ’ ve seen a billion times . Like , I ’ m a huge Larry David fan , so I ’ ve been watching a lot of Curb Your Enthusiasm , and Seinfeld , Friends , all those Judd Apatow movies , like 40-Year-Old Virgin , Forgetting Sarah Marshall , Get Him to the Greek . Just kind of what I consider to be comfort TV , I guess . And I recently rewatched The Wizard of Oz , which was my favorite movie when I was a kid . I loved it . I wore out the tape . I broke it ; I watched it so many times . And Buffy the Vampire Slayer — I ’ ve been watching that again , and I ’ ve seen it so many times I have it memorized . It ’ s something that I can put on in the background while I ’ m making dinner , and I ’ ll know everything that ’ s happening , so I don ’ t even have to look at the TV .

IE : I ’ ve been fortunate enough to interview the late Chris Cornell several times over the years , and I have nothing but fond memories of that guy . TM : That ’ s amazing . And you ’ re so fortucontinues

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