 The thought of a world without Nine Inch Nails seems a strange one, but after the release of The Slip in 2008 Reznor hinted many times that it might be the end for NIN. Our last couple of reviews have looked at the How To Destroy Angels side project, and on top of that there was some excellent soundtrack work on The Social Network (which landed an Oscar, lest we forget) and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Around this time it seemed as though these things could form a distinctive new career direction, and it was only around 2012 – four years on from The Slip – that there were the first indications of new Nine Inch Nails material. A year later, Hesitation Marks emerged and saw the band back in the limelight again. Hesitation Marks is a run of albums that continue to explore different sounds for NIN, and while this sort of continued transformation may not be for everyone, it seems only natural as a reflection of an artist constantly experimenting and trying new things. It keeps the core of Nine Inch Nails no doubt, and has a largely electronic sound probably most akin to Year Zero, although less furious and aggressive than that one. We begin with a very lively double header of Copy of A and Came Back Haunted (which also has a superbly weird David Lynch music video to go along with it) before some quieter, more introspective tracks in the likes of Find My Way and All Time Low. For me personally, the middle section of the album is weaker than its opening, and certainly not as good as the finale. For me everything from the ninth track on the album, Various Methods of Escape, really hits the mark and has an absolute feeling of Reznor at his best. It's layered, complex, energetic and reflective – if I could pick an absolute favourite from this album it would have to be I Would For You, which starts steadily but builds to a brilliant crescendo. There's a great singalong value to many of the album's livelier tracks, and it feels like a definite reflection of Reznor as a musician at this point. Gone is the unbridled fury that made Broken, or the deep angst of The Downward Spiral and The Fragile, replaced with a much more melancholic, thoughtful outlook. The experience of the last five years is absolutely felt in this album, and it's a welcome addition. Hesitation Marks was at large a critical hit, and was also a high entry on the US Billboard 100 – its number three position making it the band's fifth top-five album – as well as hitting number 2 on the album chart here in the UK. It was also a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Album, so you could argue that even in a fallow half a decade Nine Inch Nails had barely missed a step. I often wonder how it felt to put this one out after such a long hiatus, and with such a different sound to boot – then again, Reznor has never been shy to buck trends and do things his own way, so in many regards you could say this album was a natural progression. In terms of continued NIN output, we’ll next be turning our attention to the recent ‘trilogy’ of Not The Actual Events, Add Violence and Bad Witch, which should bring us about up to date…. With plenty of soundtrack work to be going on with, it'd be another few years until we saw anything new from NIN, and we'll come to Not The Actual Events next time around..   |
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