Nine Inch Nails has released the first single from their upcoming album, Hesitation Marks – Came Back Haunted.
Check out the single and let us know what you think of it!
Hesitation Marks arrives September 3rd via Columbia. The single is should be available today on iTunes, or you can pre-order the album and instantly get a download of Came Back Haunted.
It reminds me of the new Skinny Puppy album, where it’s the new style with a lot of influence from their older material. I think it’s a nice mix between the two eras.
is it me or is that a DX7 (or at least something that sounds like it) a la PHM at the end? I know he has been playing with his older synths for this album and that was a favorite of his way back when.
Rad.
the dx7 was NEVER a favorite of trents.
ever heard pretty hate machine and Broken? It is all over it according to him in multiple interviews.
He ended up leaving it behind with the Oberheim Xpander to get those FM sounds later on.
if he used to for 1/2 his leads i would say it was a favorite at the time.
It is not all over broken, and i swear it is NOT on one track on broken. the xpander and moog are, a walforf microwave are, but find ONE interview where he says there is a dx7 on it. you won’t find it. dx7’s were used on the downward spiral tours as controllers, and controllers only, for their robust construction. But not one sound was used from the devices either live or in the studio for broken etc..
forgot the Prophet VS, which with the xpander, WERE used for leads on that stuff primarily…
end of happiness in slavery the synth line is a dx7
its and its in some of the background of the guitar for wish
and it is on Last throughout some parts mostly over guitars.
its not as much on broken but
we all know it is all over phm
actually micah it is not. there is no dx7 on wish or last….
“thats what i get” on pretty hate machine – the sequence at the start is very much an fm synth, therefore likely dx7… Therefore lyle rasputin, i think you might be wrong.
You might be partly right about “ring finger” the bass line sounds very moogish – but the bells? More like dx7.
2 minutes into “wish” i hear a sound that is unmistakeably FM. Prove me wrong, lyle rasputin.
I’d kill to sit in on a NIN mixdown session. There are probably something like 60 individual tracks of complex sounds going on in this song… how the hell does it always come through so clean!?!?
Love this quite a bit, very catchy!
Trent however has tended to stick with this particular progression for his singles over the past ten years, however it works.
fucking love it
Well, the lyrics are completely fatuous. On the level of a Rhianna tune, I think. But it sounds great! Wonderful, driving production.
The Rhianna comparison may be a little harsh!
You have to judge a NIN track on the whole package. Reznor always puts passion and emotion into his singing, and he clearly taps into an angsty area that many people relate to.
Also, his music is more interesting than 90% of what you hear.
I love NIN to death, but this track is kind of underwhelming to me.
It’s not bad by any means. I just don’t think it’s pushing the sonic boundaries like I was hoping it would in terms of production and songwriting. The sound design is somewhat tame I guess is the best way to put it. The usual analog synths bloops that we’ve heard on the last few albums, some bendy octave guitar lines, and a melody that’s so-so. This of course is the single, so I’m hoping that the rest of the album has some more tricks its sleeve.
I really liked the Tetsuo: The Bullet Man Theme that he did a few years ago and how he mixed a brass section, junk percussion, and the usual distorted mangled guitars. I know it was an instrumental, but I thought the form and parts of the piece were quite interestingly and well written. It felt fresh (to me at least). I hope we get some more of that kind of stuff.
I’ll go for the instrumental…..
Anything sounds good after How To Destroy Angels. I can’t wait for this album.
It sounds great but I was personally hoping for something more raw, maybe more rock oriented with the whole “new live band” thing . With how polished music is no a days, some of it lacks soul. Please keep you hands on the keys and not the mouse.
It must be boring to be Trent Reznor
Certainly is the NIN formula, and I love it.
Uhhh dont know how to express how pumped i am to see nin live after hearing the new song
don’t have any comments on the song but am surprised it is coming out on columbia records.
strange. wonder whats the reason for that.
enough already. get back your mojo and your winning formula, trent. now is the time for another downward spiral. get charlie clouser to remix it. you still have it in you. please also give us tds multitracks.
Sounds fantastic, awesome production!
But I’m left feeling a little disappointed too, I guess this is the problem with expectations! Reminded me of Depeche Mode more than anything else…
Still, I don’t think I could do any better, would love to hear the music of anyone who has been critical, you guys must be freakin awesome!! Please post links…
Going to agree with the poster who compared it to what Skinny Puppy just did. It has a more modern Pretty Hate Machine vibe, just as the new SP has a similar vibe to it. However, I will say that while I have been listening to the new SP consistently for several days, I’m still mixed on it. I suspect that my feeling will be the same for this new NIN material.
I think the bottom line is that these guys are getting older and just aren’t as pissed off and brooding as they once were. I think those of us looking for harsh synthetic fury might need to be looking for younger artists.
I like the sound of this, but they’ll never come close to Pretty Hate Machine again.
Or will they…..
Always surprised with bands who care so much about the quality of sound/production of their music, but then just p*ss away the vocals as if it’s no part of anything.
If they care about the music, and have decided it requires vocals, can’t they let someone sing who is a 100th as professional as they are with everything else?
Lots of bands go that way
– Just perpetually surprised is all.
It would appear that Reznor was in a bit of a “box” with NIN and had to take some time to gain some fresh perspective on the project. In a time where electronic music is now pop music and every kid with a laptop and some pirated software can, however effectively, create electronic music it has to be hard for someone who has put out such a large prolific body of work to remain relevant. It seems that he found inspiration in boutique instruments and creative application of techniques with HTDA and has brought that over to the new NIN album. Is that not enough? Does an artist have to be stuck with the options of either redefining a genre every time the release a record or sticking to the formula that everyone agrees is their best effort?
his signature sound, in terms of harmony, is barely there. his new sound, which showed early traces in “the fragile”, has slowly evolved into this rather different sonic landscape. the magic is still there – heard most recently in selections from the dragon tattoo soundtrack, but the songs have mostly been a mix of potentially great elements (textures, synth lines), with muddy bass, lo fi vocals, and a noticeable drop in the overall polish. he can explore his world of boutique machines, just continue the genre using the original formula. review your performance at woodstock 94, trent, and reassess.
The original formula was heroine and self destruction. If he had stuck with that he probably wouldn’t be making music anymore.
whatever it takes to get the groove back. perhaps reunite with chris, charlie, danny, robin.
My first listen I thought it was ok..I thought it was subtle and didnt fully blow me away.
A few hours later I got the headphones on it and I got so much more out of the track. The chorus is wide with a great increase in intensity but on a subtle level.
Definitely worth setting 5 mins aside and actually concentrate on listening to it with headphones…
Also I think Trent still comes across with his vocals. yes its nowhere near the aggression of broken…but wouldnt that sound strange for a guy approaching 50?
Also on the DX7 debate….i have never heard / seen / read an interview stating he used them in the studio..just as live controllers. i have read he used the minimoog from PHM onwards as well as a lot of sequential circuits synths and the xpander which from what I saw from a recent picture he still has.
Serious question here…
What exactly about this track reminds people of Pretty Hate Machine?
I don’t see it at all. This is so much more complex and tests the limits of what pop music really is.
If a familiar sounding synth lead for a few bars is all it takes, then ok… but I just don’t see the connection…
To me the whole thing feels like Nelly Furtado’s ‘maneater’ went down an incredibly dark alley, jumps into a battle tank with treads made of human femurs that drives into a portal that induces out of body experiences or something. It’s all powerful and shit. 😉
It sounds just like Nine Inch Nails, which is reassuring and oddly disappointing at the same time. If it’s as good as The Slip, I’m buying it.
I had the chance to listen to the Soundcloud version. Talk about a big difference. There are so many layers and vocal effects going on that to me are obscured in the YouTube clip. Alan Moulder is the man!
The synth is not a DX7; it was never a favorite of his. He loved smashing them though.
I could be wrong but the synth sounds like the Mono Evolver Keyboard.
I loved the track from the first 30 seconds. A dark synth tsunami prompted by a catchy pop foundation. Great mixdown. Good lyrics. Classic NIN. Four stars.
BTW, it would’ve been nice is the rest of the album was as good CBH but is not. Downward Spiral was a Tour De France of hits/interesting tracks. The same cannot be said for Hesitation Marks saddly. I put CBH on repeat a la Charles Manson. That’s how i get my kicks, LOL.
The synth in the end of Came Back is pretty much the same than the one at the start of “That’s What I get”, “Down in it’s” break, “Happiness in slavery’s” end … A PROPHET VS ! Or a Dave Smith Evolver (equivalent, but only in came back haunted, this synth is rather recent). These aren’t FM synths (though DSi Evolver includes FM synthesis onboard) it’s more like wavetables / vector synthesis … great sounding filters, too.
There aren’t that much FM sounds in NIN, surprisingly . Few sounds here and there (in Sin’s bass for exemple and in Pretty Hate for sure, maybe some noises in TDS and layered FM with guitars in songs like Wish, Gave Up, or Mr Self Destruct.
But I do admit that the Prophet VS sounds FM because it sounds sharp, metallic, brillant … (but too “aquatic” (the filters) for an FM synth (unless if you use a TG77 ?).