After topping the rock charts in 2014 and 2015, The Pretty Reckless returns with their extraordinary third studio album Who You Selling For, due October 21st on Razor & Tie. The new album is the band's anticipated follow up to Going To Hell, which spawned the biggest rock song of 2014 in "Heaven Knows" and a total of three #1 Mainstream and Active Rock hits. The first single from the new album, "Take Me Down," premiered worldwide July 15th on iHeart Radio and impacted at rock radio four days later on July 19th, quickly climbing to #7 on the chart. Listen to the new single HERE. 　　This raucous 12-track collection puts Momsen’s dark lyrics and raw, charismatic vocals on full display while the band delivers at full intensity with a level of musicianship that raises the bar. 　　Produced by longtime collaborator Kato Khandwala, Who You Selling For is an arresting collection of rock tunes that expand the band's sound to encompass soulful, bluesy undertones, written by front woman Taylor Momsen and guitarist Ben Phillips. This raucous 12-track collection puts Momsen's dark lyrics and raw, charismatic vocals on full display while the band delivers at full intensity with a level of musicianship that raises the bar. 　　The necessity of music as a balm for the soul is a theme that threads its way through Who You Selling For, which finds Momsen and Phillips dealing with emotions ranging from confusion and frustration to depression and despair. “I think we felt a dire need to express those thoughts,” says Phillips. “And they’re things I think most humans feel on a daily basis but don’t always have an outlet to express. In the end we’re saying, ‘Don’t give up, your soul is all you have, so you’ve got to hang onto that.’” The album’s opening track, “Hangman” (which was inspired by a poem by Chidiock Tichborne written on the eve of his execution), tells a story of having control over your own mind and soul no matter what is happening to you. From there, Who You Selling For delves deep into the psyche of Momsen and Phillips — two artists who believe very much in the fiery redemptive power of rock and roll. 　　The album’s first single, “Take Me Down,” is a story of desperation, with Momsen delivering such lyrics as “I spend all night and day / How much harder can I play? / You know I gave my life to rock and roll?” “It’s about wanting something so much you’d sell your soul for it,” Momsen says, adding that she and Phillips were inspired by blues artist Robert Johnson’s song “Crossroads,” which some have interpreted as Johnson singing about selling his soul to the Devil in exchange for his musical ability. “Back To The River” is about the desire to get away from everything, to go where no one can reach you, while the strutting “Wild City” is influenced by being young and on your own in New York (“We wrote it while walking down Rivington Street on the Lower East Side,” Momsen says). The most aggressive song on the album is “Oh My God,” which Momsen describes as “self-confession right out of a journal. I think it speaks for itself.” And finally “Who You Selling For” testifies to music being a form of salvation and describes how the rest of the album reaches into all forms of rock and roll looking for “The Answer.” The song inspired the album’s title, asking listeners to take a look at their own lives with its provocative query. “For me, it’s a question that challenges what I’m doing with my life,” Momsen says. “It questions the meaning of my actions whatever they are. It also defines the record in a grander way by asking the listener to look into the meaning of each song past the obvious.” 　　Sonically, Who You Selling For alternates between blistering hard rock (“Oh My God,” “Prisoner,” “Wild City,” “Living In The Storm”) and gentler, more downtempo moments (“The Walls Are Closing In,” “Take Me Down,” “Back To The River,” “Who You Selling For,” acoustic ballad “Bedroom Window,” and closing track “The Devil’s Back”), giving Momsen a platform to showcase the power and versatility of her voice. She is one of rock’s most compelling contemporary frontpersons, capable of being both brash and confrontational and sultry and seductive, daring listeners to ignore her at their own peril with a fiery swagger that has only grown more fascinating as Momsen gets older. (She was 15 when The Pretty Reckless wrote and recorded their rock-grunge-blues debut album Light Me Up, which was released in 2010.) 　　Momsen’s voice sounds all the more intimate thanks to the unvarnished way that she and Phillips, along with their long-time producer Kato Khandwala, recorded the songs. “It’s the most natural recording possible,” says Phillips. “It’s all performance-based, nothing was fixed. If Taylor walked in and sang the song and it didn’t work, she’d walk right out.” When more than just guitar, bass, and drums were needed, additional musicians were invited in, including guitarist Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers), guitarist Tommy Byrnes (Billy Joel), and keyboardist Andy Burton (Ian Hunter), as well as backing vocalists Janice Pendarvis (David Bowie), Jenny Douglas-Foote (P!nk), and Sophia Ramos (Rod Stewart). “It was so great having that many musicians in a room playing together and just hitting the record button,” Momsen says. “It’s very gratifying to feel the players and singers represented as they are. It gave life to these songs that were written tucked away in a bedroom and it enabled us to really deliver the most honest performances possible. What you hear is what it sounded like, no frills. That’s it.” 　　It’s the band’s willingness to bare their souls that has earned them such a passionate fan base — people who identify with the raw candor of the lyrics and fearless way they are expressed. “I’ve had such a strange life,” Momsen says. “I’ve always felt on my own, running around the world on some mission that I barely understood. Our fans have been the ones who were really there for us. They have supported us through the good times and the bad. I owe them gratitude. They are the inspiration when things look too bleak to keep going. I know it’s been said a million times, but it’s true, I wouldn’t be here today without them. They make this all possible.” 　　Formed in 2009, The Pretty Reckless released their debut album Light Me Up in 2010 scoring legions of fans worldwide, but it was their sophomore record Going to Hell that positioned the band to become the first new artist to breakout of rock in years, debuting in the Top 5 on Billboard's Top 200. Achieving three #1 Rock hits - "Heaven Knows," "Fucked Up World" and "Follow Me Down" - was a feat that has not been accomplished by a female fronted group since The Pretenders in 1984, nearly a quarter of a century ago. 　　Despite feeling the physical and emotional demands from their epic two-year run supporting Going to Hell, Momsen and Phillips jumped right into writing the songs for the new album. "We had so much we wanted to say, it was like shaking a can of soda on tour, and then when we started writing we cracked the seal," says Momsen. "The touring life is very isolating. You look at the world through a bus or airplane window. But music is the healing factor. It's the one thing that is grounding and a true companion through the forest. It saved us - again." 　　The band will hit the road this fall in support of the album and will run through major US cities such as Chicago, New York and Nashville before wrapping on December 6th in Los Angeles. Tickets go on sale to the public Friday August 12th at 10 AM local time. Please visit The Pretty Reckless for complete info.