The Pretty Reckless put a bold, rock-driven spin on the classic holiday ballad “Where Are You Christmas,” and Taylor Momsen’s performance is a masterclass in controlled vocal distortion.
In this breakdown, we’ll look at what’s happening in Taylor’s voice when she belts, how she layers in those signature rocky textures, and what vocal techniques you can study (safely) if you want to explore this style yourself.
Taylor Momsen’s Belt and the Constricted Sound
From the very first “My world is changing,” Taylor sets the tone. She keeps the larynx low but adds a subtle tightening at the back of the throat, which strips away the sweet, traditional colour you’d normally expect from “Where Are You Christmas” and replaces it with grit. A relatively closed mouth position helps her hold the air back and maintain that constricted quality throughout the phrase.
When the lyric hits “Where are you Christmas, why can’t I find you,” the thicker vocal fold closure (a chest voice sound) combines with extra tension in the throat, and likely a bit of tongue tension as well, to create The Pretty Reckless signature texture. It isn’t about volume, and it isn’t about pushing air. It’s about a very specific kind of squeeze at the top of the throat.
The Larynx, the Swallow Reflex, and Why Constriction Works
Here’s the physiology behind what Taylor Momsen does so well. When the larynx rises, the throat interprets that movement as a swallow. You can feel this if you place your fingers on your throat and swallow; the larynx lifts and drops. As a reflex, the constrictor muscles inside the throat begin to close. Normally, singers want to avoid this. But in rock and belt styles, a small, controlled amount of that constriction is what creates the gritty, distorted effect.
A few key principles to keep in mind when working on this sound:
- Hold the breath back rather than pushing air through.
- Keep the vocal fold closure thicker (a chest voice quality).
- Use the constriction sparingly, not across the whole song.
- If you feel a scratch, catch, or cough, stop immediately.
The Cookie Monster Rattle
At one point in “Where Are You Christmas,” Taylor slips in a quick rattle effect, almost like a cookie monster texture at the back of the throat. It’s fleeting, and that’s exactly the point. Dropping in effects briefly rather than plastering them across every line is what gives a rock performance its shape and intention. A single well-placed rattle on a lyric like “where can I find you” lands harder than ten lines of constant distortion.
False Vocal Fold Distortion After the Key Change
After the key change, the timbre darkens and a new layer of distortion enters the sound. This is Taylor Momsen allowing her false vocal folds, the tissue sitting just above the true vocal folds, to vibrate and distort the tone. It isn’t the vocal folds slamming together; the work is happening above them, with just a sliver of extra tightening in that area.
You’ll also notice that Taylor pulls the microphone further from her mouth as the volume climbs. That’s a deliberate technique. Many singers leave the mic in one place for the whole song, but dynamic mic work keeps the loud moments from overwhelming the mix and keeps the quieter moments intimate.
Darkening the Tone by Rounding the Lips
Another subtle move in “Where Are You Christmas” is a slight rounding of the lips during certain phrases. The vocal tract runs from the lips to the vocal folds, and lengthening that tract produces a darker tone. Taylor uses this to add colour without changing what’s happening at the source of the sound, which is a lovely way to shape timbre without adding more pressure or tension.
The Yell Belt on the High B
When Taylor hits the big “me” up on the high B, she’s using what many coaches call a yell belt. A few features to notice:
- An H vowel shape on the way up to help the pitch land.
- A relatively straight tone with no vibrato.
- A closing of the teeth at the end of the note, which increases pressure and adds constriction.
Closing the teeth is an interesting trick. The yell belt generally wants a more open mouth, but by closing the sound down on the final consonant, Taylor Momsen creates even more pressure and squeeze, which sharpens the effect. This is advanced territory, and it is not recommended in every situation. Listen carefully to your own body if you try it.
Body Mechanics: Leaning Back and Lifting the Chin
The Pretty Reckless frontwoman also uses her body to support these high, distorted belts. She leans back slightly, which recruits the larger muscles of the back and chest to support the sound. Lifting the chin helps to arrest the thyroid cartilage (where the vocal folds live) and stops it from tipping fully forward.
For high belt sounds, we want a more vertical thyroid position rather than a full forward tilt. These small postural choices give the voice a stable platform to work from, especially during the sustained, distorted moments of “Where Are You Christmas.”
Listen to Your Body
A sincere word of caution here. This level of distortion takes stamina, muscularity, and time to build. Your intuition knows far more about your voice than you realise, so pay attention to it. If something hurts, scratches, or feels wrong, stop. “Where Are You Christmas” sung in the Taylor Momsen style is not a beginner technique, and building up to it slowly is what keeps the voice healthy for the long run.
If you want to learn more about how you can learn to implement these singing techniques into your own voice, let’s sit down for a chat and discuss if the vocal academy is the right fit for you. You can join us here.