Sitting in a dark dressing room at Scottsdale, AZ’s Martini Ranch,The Pretty Reckless’ Taylor Momsen is a sight to behold. Wearing oversized black sunglasses (think Jackie O.), Momsen is donning a gray tank dress and her flaxen tresses are parted into two long braids.

The 18-year-old singer/actress — who starred as Jenny Humphrey on the CW TV series “Gossip Girl” and as Cindy Lou Who in the Jim Carrey flick “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” — is kind, sweet and even a little excited that a journalist has come to see her.

An interview should be the least of her thrills. She’s on a headlining tour with her band The Pretty Reckless, traversing the country in support of her 2012 EP “Hit Me Like a Man” and last year’s full-length, “Light Me Up.” The act is preparing to open for Marilyn Manson on its tour.

Momsen spoke to SoundSpike about “Hit Me Like a Man,” preparing new material and being taken seriously enough as a musician to share the stage with System of a Down, Slipknot and Marilyn Manson.

SoundSpike: You must be excited that “Hit Me Like a Man” is doing so well.

Taylor Momsen: It’s super exciting. It’s No. 3 on the rock chart. Bruce Springsteen is No. 1 and 2, so I don’t feel too bad. It’s pretty awesome. It’s kind of crazy.

“Hit Me Like a Man” is a collection of new songs and live tracks. How did you decide which live tracks to include?

We wanted to “Make Me Wanna Die” because now we have every version of “Make Me Wanna Die” possible, recorded acoustic and all live versions. “Since You’re Gone” is one of our favorite songs to play live. We usually open the set with it and it’s when we lock in that groove. It’s definitely one of our favorites.

Have you started work on a new album?

Yeah, yeah, we perform the U.S. headline tour, The Medicine Tour — I’m not used to calling a tour a name — then we jump on for a month with Manson. And then right after that we go straight in the studio and start recording the second album.

How far along are you?

Not far enough. It’s never done until it’s mastered and I can’t touch it anymore.

How do you know when it’s done?

It’s weird once it’s done. When the song is written, it’s constantly evolving. It’s not working then it works. There’s no in between. It’s either great or it’s not. We have a very high standard of things, which makes it difficult. Hopefully it’ll pay off in the end.

What is the direction of the new material?

I think it’s definitely evolving. I think the EP gives you an indication of where the music’s going. That’s why we wanted to release something. We wanted to just give fans new material because we’ve been touring this album, “Light Me Up,” for so long. We needed to start playing some new things. Also just to give them a taste of where the direction’s going. I don’t know what that is. I think the biggest thing that’s changed is my standard of what’s good has changed and grown. I’m competing with myself now along with everyone else. Putting out the first record, I’m not competing with anything to do with me. I’m competing with the rest of the world. As far as songwriting, I’ve definitely raised the bar of what I consider great. That’s challenging, but if you’re not beating yourself then what the fuck are you doing?

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