FEATURE: Spotlight: The Pretty Wild

FEATURE:

Spotlight

The Pretty Wild

__________

I am going to come…

to a review of zero.point.genesis. That is the debut album from the amazing The Pretty Wild. The duo is made up of Jyl and Jules Wylde. Originating from Las Vegas, Nevada, The Pretty Wild are known for their Metalcore sound, often described as Y'allternative. Before getting to a review for their album, there are a few interviews that I want to source. The first is from Hard Beat. They chatted with the Wilde sisters about their musical development, and what comes next for them:

“You’ve already brought up ‘Button Eyes’, that’s one of my favourite visuals. Are you thinking about visuals and the music videos while you’re writing?

Jyl: I feel like it’s because Julia comes from this theatrical world, especially like, everything with us, it’s like we don’t just sit down for song, we see a whole landscape with it. We see a whole world we’re building, like from the fashion to, you know, the set that we want to bring so you really get pulled into the space artistically that we’re trying to energetically have when they listen and you know, that that’s kind of hard within a commercial box sometimes. But we find our ways, and I think especially in this next era, you’re going to see a lot more of that world building come to life.

You both sing and scream within the songs, how do you structure the songs and discuss who does what within them?

Jules: Well, that’s a funny question because actually, Jyl taught me how to scream in the studio, actually. And the first time I’m really, truly screaming on a song was for ‘Sleepwalker’. So now when I go back and listen to ‘Sleepwalker’, I’m like “oh my God, I could have done so much better now.” But, it was kind of interesting. And now I think between the two of us, when it comes to harsh vocals, a lot of times it sounds kind of similar, but the way to tell it like a cheat almost is that I tend to scream a lot of the lower parts, and Jyl’s a lot more of this cool high, like gritty, parts of the song.

Jyl: I feel like so much of the artistic messaging is that duality of women holding this rage, but also this sweetness at the same time. So the music definitely had to have both parts. And people are like, you know, it’s really hard to do melodic cleans, and we’re like, “fuck it”, we’ll figure it out, you know what I mean?

You bring up fashion and styling when talking about the music. Does that kind of all coincide with the visuals and what you want to deliver as a package within the femininity?

Jules: Yeah, it’s funny you mention that because we’re going to dive so much deeper into the fashion elements, because art for us goes much deeper than, than just music. Like we have like Jyls kind of talked about this whole ethos and world that we’re building. And a lot of that comes through creative decisions like videos and fashion, and even hair and makeup and what time periods sometimes we’re starting to channel, and whether there’s baroque elements, and songs or some more classical elements mixed with nu metal, which is kind of a funny juxtaposition.

Jyl: Even the gymnastics tricking stuff that I do. That’s art. I don’t go to the gym normal! Finding a cool way that really takes these authentic elements that you and I both have and like creating that bigger message together, is something you’re definitely going to see with this album.

And just in these upcoming live shows, we’re just really, really excited for it all to come together and have that message hit right.

I did a deep dive on your previous singles and what you’ve released in the last couple years. You’ve developed a lot musically. You experimented with country before diving into metalcore!

Jyl: We did. In a really short space of time! I think it really does come back to, you are only allowed to be so many things as a woman like, straight up, and growing up, you’re trying to find your place.

We were doing really creepy country at first. Most people don’t know. And then we got interested in the industry and then it got super watered down and at the end of the day, when we started working with Andrew, we just started peeling back those layers, song by song. And like that’s kind of where it just emerged, like it really came from layer peeling, the conditioning
undoing the conditioning, you know? I feel like you can tell, you can feel the comfortability in what we’re doing and how we’re here.

And you can’t you can’t fake that process. It’s just like there weren’t a lot of role models for that personally I found when I was younger. So that’s why it’s so fucking crazy.

Where do you foresee The Pretty Wild going? This year’s been massive growth with your debut album. Next year, what are you thinking?

Jyl: Crank up the chaos, baby.

Believe it or not, we held back. In a lot of ways, we did. I think you hold back because you’re not confident yet. You know what I mean? So I think when you have real confidence and you’re ready to commit to these things, I think you’re going to see a whole new level of execution with what we’re doing. And I’m really excited.

Jules: We always tell people expect the unexpected. We are constantly, just seems like, creative machines, we have these outputs of enthusiasm and energy and ideas, and like that never turns off for us.

So we’re just we’re excited to really show everybody what’s in our brains and how we can actually make that come to life and illustrate this whole world that we have fallen in love with, and be able to portray that to everybody.

Jyl: And honestly, really help inspire others, especially females in general. Thinking differently can work and valuing their emotions, and realizing their emotions are where they have a lot of power, a lot of creative power. That’s really important for us.

And showing that and demonstrating that and making that a reality”.

I am going to move to great intervbiew from New Noise Magazine. The Pretty Wild have had a busy year. 2026 will see them touring and taking their music to audiences far and wide. I think that zero.point.genesis is among the best albums of the year. It is great that they are coming to the U.K. in February. Playing the O2 Forum Kentish Town on 12th February (among other dates in the U.K.), I might try and catch them. A sensational live act, go and see them if you can:

“Following the release of their inaugural LP, The Pretty Wild don’t plan on hitting the brakes any time soon, as next year will find the sisters hitting the road to support Sleep Theory on a 2026 European tour throughout February and March. And after making their festival debuts at Welcome To Rockville and Inkcarceration this year, 2026 will also find The Pretty Wild tearing up the stages at Sonic Temple, Download, and Vainstream Rockfest.

“I feel like those are going to be some of the first shows that we really unveil what we’ve been working really hard on for the live show stuff,” Jyl says of their upcoming shows with Sleep Theory. “And a lot of that’s still a secret. So we just can’t wait. That’s going to be where everything kind of comes together.”

The duo’s upcoming shows with Sleep Theory will find them performing their debut studio album in its entirety, and they say the reality of such a monumental release still hasn’t set in just yet.

“I don’t think it’s really going to feel real for me and very visceral until I get to hold a copy of the vinyl – then it might finally start to click,” Jules admits.

Jyl adds, “The album really is a culmination of so many things that, even before we sat down to write it, we were working on and embodying in ourselves. So, to see it become something that’s physical in reality is just going to be unreal.”

Fueled by raw vulnerability and divine energy, zero.point.genesis finds The Pretty Wild conveying a newfound maturity and fearlessness. Through unbridled tracks like “PARADOX” and “hALf aLiVE,” the Wylde sisters embrace both haunting mystery and profound self-reflection.

“This album really is a feminine becoming album in a lot of ways,” Jyl says. “It’s just been this awesome evolution to really see us as sisters become more confident with each other, and have and hold that energy and help other women really feel that as well and leave behind toxic feminine ways and really embrace collaborative energy and seeing how we’re just more powerful when we combine our efforts together.”

Regarding the sound of the new record, Jules says, “I think also we grew and pushed ourselves in different ways creatively, and we both were really supportive of that. We tried different things. We tried to go to different places. Not only with instrumentation, but also just vocal parts, and the maturity of the writing and the depth of the writing.”

The album is as authentic a body of work as it is personal, with Jyl and Jules describing the record as a culmination of everything they’ve grown to understand about themselves over the last couple of years. While the project is intentionally multi-layered, learning to embrace and explore your femininity is a defining throughline.

While their sound has evolved, the duo’s signature sense of lyrical poetry and gritty storytelling has always remained the same. And while the music industry’s love of experimentation wasn’t as prominent a few years ago as it is today, Jules says their move away from the y’allternative scene all worked in their favor after leaving their label at the time.

“We were able to get creatively weird with it,” she says. “And then it just started progressing into what it was and is now, which is that heavier tone, which has always been an interest of mine. I’ve always been a big metalhead from the time I was pretty young, whereas Jyl comes from more of a dark, girly, pop realm. That’s why you’ll notice a lot of our songs have these heavy breakdowns and these classical moments, but also these poppy choruses that pull in those dark concepts. It made us who we are today, as hokey as that sounds.”

Now, The Pretty Wild possess an undying musical ethos that strives for unconventionality and going against the grain of society. Unafraid to break the rules —or break down genre barriers, for that matter—Jyl and Jules say it’s their ability to look within that sets them apart from the rest of the metal scene.

“You have to have somewhat of a finger on the pulse of what’s going on,” Jules says. “But for the most part, when we come up with concepts or ideas, or we go to cut music, everything else is kind of external, and we don’t really think about it. Being in the studio is a very private spot where it’s obviously soundproofed, and you don’t think about other people. So you just create what you want to create, and then you’re really proud of it. Then of course you want to show it off, but you really make it for yourself, first and foremost.”

Jyl adds, “You can pay attention to the rules, but then ultimately, we always go by how we feel. Learn the rules. But then if you feel like that’s not what you should do, or you need to mix it up, then let that feeling lead you.”

Ultimately, The Pretty Wild embrace just what their name represents—beauty and anger, light and darkness, intention and fearlessness. Through their first full-length musical effort, the sister duo trusts the unknown, and they encourage listeners to do the same.

“You should listen to your instincts, especially as a female, and embrace your emotions. Because that’s your superpower,” Jyl says. “And I think ultimately this album has been a reclamation of all of those things, and not being afraid to express your emotions. You can be beautiful and rageful in the same sentence, and there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s healthy.”

The final interview that I want to come to is from v13. They spoke with a duo who were “Raised on theatre, classical music, and a shared fascination with performance”. I am quite new to The Pretty Wild, though it has been fascinating researching them and learning more about their incredible debut album. Go and make sure that you follow them. I think that we will be hearing a lot more from The Pretty Wild in years to come:

“Going back to what you said about the creative differences being the source of your arguments, how quickly did you agree on the vision of how The Pretty Wild should sound?

Jules: “It’s always been very fused. There’s never been a time I think we thought this is too heavy or this isn’t heavy enough. It was really organic and agreed upon. I don’t think there was ever a time when we butt heads on that. Organically, Jyl’s more interested in like hyper pop and these pop elements, and I tend to come from more of the metalcore, heavier side of things. It really is this natural organic fusion. We love the juxtaposition of that from like horses to breakdowns.”

Jyl: “We’ve always been in agreement with classical music. Classical music is our home base, so we had to have that in there. That was a given. I love dark pop. I love dark pop melodies. I love dark pop structure. For me, alt dark pop is totally my vibe, and then Julia definitely is rooted in more of that metal scene. Everything just worked.”

In terms of bands or other artists, you share those ethos with, who were your inspirations?

Jyl: “I love Jack White in general. The Civil Wars were always a big influence for us. Sonically, they just really bring you in with minimal instrumentation. They suck you in. Their energy has a special quality to it that can do that. That’s definitely an inspiration. I listen to everything. I listen to a lot of rap to metal to, Julia was saying hyper-pop to EDM.”

Jules: “An obvious mainstream to point to is that Linkin Park aesthetic with nu metal, where they truly fused different genres and were pioneers of that alongside a few other bands crafting that nu-metalcore scene. Like Jyl said, we’re such an amalgamation of so many different bands and artists for different reasons that it’s hard to really just isolate it.”

You’ve described the album as an album of collapse and resurrection. Where did those themes manifest from, and do you see it as a concept album?

Jyl: “Totally. It’s a total concept album. A lot of it comes from a lot of systematic programming, social programming, and undoing. Realising you don’t realise when you’re programmed just how much was making you sick or miserable because that becomes your normal, you don’t realise until you start to realise, that wasn’t healthy, that wasn’t for me, until you get pulled out of it. There’s a part of it when you come out of it that you have this grief for that old version of you, and a lot of the album explores that. Especially your power as a woman, that’s not really something where, in my opinion, there weren’t a lot of role models for what that looks like, keeping your feminine essence intact.”

Jules: “A lot of it comes from this slightly more archaic but timeless space in literature. There are a lot of tragedies that we will touch on in a lot of the songs, or Greek or Roman mythology. Just these cool, timeless things that have been impactful for us. When it comes to actual concept albums, you mentioned Bring Me The Horizon, that’s an incredible album, Next Gen. We’re big fans of that album, and I think that, when people can take you into this world and suck you in and you feel like you’re there for 12, 14, 15 tracks, it’s really admirable. Our record comes from a few different places of inspiration.”

Just to wrap up, then could you talk us through what the album means overall and to you both as individuals?

Jules: “It’s almost like a big bang moment of this genesis of this intangible thing, essentially that is just coming into the ethos, and it’s the compulsive explosion of creativity that is happening. It’s a whole journey from start to finish, and there are a lot of different places that the album takes you. It’s chaotic and messy, but it is the genesis of the band.

The whole album is about reclaiming the parts of you that you were told to cut off yourself from. That’s why it’s so messy and raw and like screamy, but pretty at the same time, because there’s beauty once you do integrate those things again. I think a lot of people see the darkness and they’re scared of it, but for us, we run headfirst into the darkness because then you don’t become afraid of those things anymore. They lose control over you, and I think that it’s that birthing point of life and a new perceptual lens of operating and carrying yourself into the world”.

I am going to end with a review form Kerrang!. They heralded a sister dup from Las Vegas who need to be heard and seen. Even though they spin a lot of sounds and music directions, it all comes together in this cohesive debut album. In a year that has seen some impressive debut albums, zero.point.genesis definitely stands out. I would urge everyone to hear it. It will leave an impression on you, for sure:

“The Pretty Wild have taken a piece of Halloween into a time of year that’s progressively looking like Christmas. The Las Vegas sisters dance the line between icy dystopia and dark fantasy on this debut, spinning their personal agonies into something otherworldly yet with depth. It gives their own brand of shapeshifting heaviness a touch of theatricality, but in no way do they do style over substance either. In fact, when they want, they can sound all the right kinds of monstrous.

The savagery leaps out first. ‘Tear off my skin, rip it off,’ is a suitably brutal line to open with on first track Paradox, whose hulking riffs and growled raps are sweetened by its big chorus. The title-track channels a cold, digital energy with flourishes of violin for an eerie feel, while Living Ded is a stomping floor-filler made for dancing the dread away. Later, the bludgeoning Priestess strips it all back and hits straight for the jugular with the sort of chainsaw riffs that may have you thinking they’ve been studying Spiritbox’s playbook cover-to-cover. (They’re learning well.)

Even then, as strong as these tracks are, the best is still yet to come. The Trial is a majestic centrepiece revolving around the revenge of – as the title suggests – a witch put on trial, cutting between elegant melodies and lacerating screams. It’s followed by h ALF a LIVE, an almost nu-gaze inflected ballad that gracefully launches into a beautiful chorus while still retaining its grit. There’s a lot that they juggle, yet without over-stretching themselves or sounding scattered.

Even for a debut, The Pretty Wild know exactly who they are, delicately weaving their personality through their ideas to level them up into something that sounds fresh rather than contrived. Don’t underestimate these girls – and if you’re at Download next year, you might want to make space in your itinerary for them.

Verdict: 4/5”.

I am going to leave things here. Go and check out The Pretty Wild. It will be an exciting time seeing them come to the U.K. and how they are received. Going forward, I am sure Jyl and Jules Wylde have plans for more new music and stuff is coming together. I am curious as to what form that takes and when we might get examples of what their second studio album has to offer. In the meantime, we should embrace this extraordinary debut album from a dup who…