On the Guestlist: THE PRETTY LITTLES
After a huge 2025 that saw their album ‘Force’ named in The Music’s Best Australian Albums of the Year, Melbourne rock outfit The Pretty Littles are back with their brutal new single ‘In Our Times.’ The track is packed with raw anger and frustration, reflecting on the chaos, greed, and destruction of the world around us.
Their focus track ‘Possum’ has already landed on Double J rotation, and they’ve spent the past year selling out their own shows while supporting DZ Deathrays and Bad//Dreems, as well as performing at major festivals like Party In The Paddock and OK Charlton alongside Lambrini Girls and Floodlights. After headlining The Curtin on March 6, the band is heading overseas for the very first time, taking their live show to Sri Lanka on March 21.
We caught up with The Pretty Littles to talk about ‘In Our Times’, the evolution of their music, and what it’s like to channel so much aggression and energy into their songs — with a little insight into what makes them tick.
The Pretty Littles | Credit: Rick Clifford
How did The Pretty Littles come together, and what clicked between you all that made you go all-in on this raw, aggressive sound?
About 5 years ago the band broke up. About 3 years ago I reached out to Sam and Liam to see if they would like to get it going again because their brilliant band Neighbourhood Youth had slowed down a bit. They’re amazing musos and better people. We’d toured a lot together. About 6 months after that JP, the singer from Neighbourhood Youth joined as drummer. Bit of a dream come true. The friendship and love is there. We all respect one another pretty deeply I reckon. We have a good time, you know? We love The Drones l as much as we love Gillian Welsh, so the sounds move around a bit. Whatever the song wants we try and let it happen without worrying about what the last one was or how the next one might sound.
‘In Our Times’ feels like one of your more confrontational songs yet full of anger and frustration. Was there a specific moment or event that pushed you to write it?
Nah not really. Just a build up of hopelessness. Which I guess reached a point where it all just fell out.
From your first songs to ‘In Our Times,’ how do you think your music has evolved — in sound, energy, or the way you write?
I think the main thing I hold onto and what keeps us going is the songs feel to us like they get better each time. I mean early days you can hear all the searching and imitating. We didn’t start good. Some bands do. I was late to the party and it took a long time to gather enough tools and confidence to make songs I loved. Skeleton Run, Weekend Away, especially Force and the next one coming out soon, things started coming together a bit. We’re a band that runs on energy and emotion over beauty or precision or delicacy. Those things can exist in energy and emotion obviously. But I think we sorta know what we are. The way we write now is ridiculous. Full butcher job. We can’t rehearse too much. We just pinch hit. Get a song in the ball park and then book some time in the studio and work the rest out there. It’s a bit stressful, but we’re better at managing that now. Producer Greg Rietwyk is an essential part of that puzzle. In the perfect world we write for a few months, take 2/3 weeks to craft and 2 weeks to record. We’re driven and love it more than ever and want the songs to be as good as they can be, but we’re realistic about time we can put towards it with all the other shit in life. We use a lot of first takes now. We don’t stew over shit. We use a lot of sounds and tracks from demos. It’s become a bit avante garde or some shit in the way we approach it.
Most of your songs carry that raw, aggressive energy. When you’re writing a song this intense, is it more exhausting or freeing to channel that intensity into the music?
Just depends. It’s never exhausting to begin with. It can become a bit tedious at times when you start recording. Trying to balance everything. Sometimes words demand a certain delivery. Sometimes it’s more challenging/rewarding to find a different way to deliver heavy lyrics with more subtle melodies and arrangements. Sing the sad songs happy and the happy songs sad is a bit of a Paul Kelly trick I love but often forget about. It’s all a bit of a mystery.
Your songs tackle heavy topics — is it more about processing it for yourselves or making listeners confront it too?
It’s always about processing. Or reacting. Always comes from a feeling. Happiness, anger, distress, love, loss. What makes the original feeling special or what makes the whole experience of songwriting special is that it might connect with someone in the same way or a completely different way relevant to them.
You write about anger so well in your songs — but outside of music, what’s one small, everyday thing that still gets under your skin?
Haha. Depends on how much sleep I got. Generally the completely avoidable things like forgetting to put the washing out and having to put it through the wash again. Then potentially forgetting again. Anyway im reading the power of now so im zen as fuck.
You’re about to play your first international headline show in Sri Lanka — what are you most excited for on this first trip overseas?
Just so schtoked to be going back to such a beautiful country. Will be my third time over there and about 10 years since the last trip. It’s a total privilege to travel from music. Something we’ve not been able to do until now!
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