Nine Inch Nails' music is not known for its rosy disposition and optimistic solutions. These people are the legends of dark and disturbing, who resist The Man at all costs. That's what makes their music work.
Their latest album was originally released free on their Web site on May 5 before this week's physical release, another dig at the establishment that just assumes people should pay for stuff. It's odd, though, that the free stuff is worth the dough.
Case in point: The Slip.
It's appropriate that this comes just as Batman's nemesis The Joker gets exponentially creepier. The album is deceptively gentle at times, as in Lights in the Sky. But then the detached voices come, as if gargling on their own blood. This is not music for those who scare easily. This is the music that plays in the hallway of a horror film.
While the music on The Slip might actually work as vengeful solace from heartbreak or letdown, if you want a pick-me-up, turn away. The beauty of Nine Inch Nails is that they and their diabolical leader, Trent Reznor, never pretended to be a feel-good band. That should be obvious after suggestions to animalistic sexual acts on 1994's Closer.
Reznor's voice is as tortured as always, alternately hissing, whispering, shouting and taunting. It isn't until his voice is almost seductive (like on Echoplex) that the paranoia and fear of silence starts. But Reznor's voice fits the lyrics like a bloodstained glove. There is no one else that could sing I wake up / on the floor / start it up again / like it matters anymore with such disdain, apathy and utter disgust.
There is a touch of what truly ticked off political talk sounds like on Letting You and Discipline. The latter is the closest to a straight rock song as this album gets. It should follow Hurt onto the mainstream playlists.
Though the instrumental tracks 999
999 and Corona Radiata are only there for suspense and get boring after a while, most of the music on The Slip is mesmerizing. The rough guitar parts and 80s-style, outer space beats are the unchangeable mainstays of Nine Inch Nails music.
This is the Nine Inch Nails of legend; nothing more, nothing less. They didn't promise you any different, and that's the most refreshing thing about them. The rest will give you nightmares.
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Archives
Susan Tebben
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