The veteran rockers bookend 2016 with a five-track EP which harkens back to the sound that first made them a household name.
Nine Inch Nails/ Not the Actual Events
For long-serving American rock outfit Nine Inch Nails, the release of their latest EP Not the Actual Events is momentous on several levels. Not only does the five-track EP mark the band's second EP following their first, 1992's Broken, it also reflects frontman Trent Reznor's determination to detach himself from having to rely on major record labels. Released under his own label The Null Corporation, the new surprise EP finds him working alongside long-time collaborator Atticus Ross, who had officially joined the line-up as a permanent member.
Billed by frontman Trent Reznor as "an unfriendly, fairly impenetrable record that we needed to make", Not the Actual Events serves up what it says on the tin and then some. Less-than-two-minute opener Branches/Bones sets the tone of despair and discontent with classic NIN sonic aesthetics. "You can tell all your friends you're just a tourist/But you can't understand what they have planned until you try to leave," Reznor snarls to the toothy riffs. "Cold and black and infinite, with nothing left to lose/If you try to keep the flies away, the make-up hides the bruise … Feels like I've been here before/Yeah, I don't know any more/And I don't care any more."
Dear World follows suit with sombre, fluttering synths reminiscent of New Order. The message here is equally bleak and distressing: "Dear world, I can hardly recognise you anymore/And yet I remain certain/There is an answer in you/I feel like I have lived so long sometimes." Featuring guest vocals from Reznor's wife, How To Destroy Angels vocalist Mariqueen Maandig, She's Gone Away is near six minutes of nothing but pure haunting wail and menacing industrial romp. The Idea of You keeps the riotous momentum going with an incessant, turbulent growl coupled with feverish drumming courtesy of Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl. "Maybe that was somebody else/Maybe, I was somebody else/I'm somebody for what that's worth/If that means anything anymore," muses Reznor as he grapples with a good old-fashioned identity crisis.
Closer Burning Bright (Field on Fire) is the aforementioned unfriendliness and impenetrableness personified. Filled to the brim with unhinged aggression, distorted riffs and Dave Navarro's thrashing guitar work, it's the heaviest, most intense of the set. Compared to preceding tracks, the lyrics here are relatively vague ("And oh my god, I missed you, it's been so long/And I am stronger than I have ever been in my decline") and suffused with macabre imagery like "carcass" and "a plague of locusts".
Although clocking in at just around 20 minutes, Not the Actual Events packs enough punch to appeal to their long-time fans. A welcome change from all of Reznor's tame film scores, the EP provides a nostalgia-inducing teaser that will tide these fans over until NIN's next, hopefully lengthier and grander, endeavours.
THE PLAYLIST
Phum Viphurit (feat Jenny & The Scallywags)/ The Art of Detaching One's Heart
Rising Bangkok-based singer-songwriter Phum Viphurit teams up with indie outfit Jenny & The Scallywags on his latest single, The Art of Detaching One's Heart. Inspired by his high school heartbreak, the song kicks off with gentle finger-picked guitars and Phum singing about "words roaming inside [his] chest" and being "lost in space." "I, thought we were happy," he rues as Jenny Lackgren promptly shares her side of the story: "I fell out of love/It's not like before." This is another solid number from Phum and we're hoping that this year will finally see a full-length debut from him.
Bon Jovi/ New Year's Day
Yes, we're already one week deep into 2017, but long-serving singer-songwriter Jon Bon Jovi would like to remind us that in order to start afresh, you don't need a certain date to dictate your actions. "Let's toast to new beginnings/Raise up a glass and say/For all of our tomorrows/And what was yesterday," he sings alongside arena-ready guitars and drums. "I'm singing carpe diem/I'm saying seize the day/Come on, let's live forever/It's new year's day." Adhering to the tried-and-tested pop-rock template, the song marks the ninth cut off the band's 13th studio album, This House is Not For Sale.
Nelly Furtado/ Pipe Dreams
With her new cut Pipe Dreams, Nelly Furtado has ditched the glossy urban R&B flavour and embraced a simple vintage rock sound. Produced by Grammy Award-winning John Congleton (St Vincent, Sigur Rós, Unknown Mortal Orchestra), the track marks a distinct sonic shift from her past records, trading bouncy beats for an unassuming, pensive groove. "Don't sell me no pipe dreams/I want a life in a kaleidoscope/Don't sell me no pipe dreams/Will I be the one to spin the wheel?" sings the Canadian-Portuguese chanteuse. Titled The Ride, Furtado's forthcoming sixth studio album is due out this March.
The Rolling Stones/ Ride 'Em On Down
Shake 'Em On Down is the latest offering from Blue & Lonesome, a covers album by legendary British rockers the Rolling Stones. Originally written and recorded by American musician Bukka White and blues singer Eddie Taylor, the song gets a subtle update on its tempo and arrangement, resulting in a tighter, more contemporary-sounding rework. The highlight, though, lies in the vibrant harmonica solo supplied by none other than eternally suave frontman Mick Jagger.
Grouper/ I'm Clean Now
Grouper, the solo project of Portland singer-songwriter Liz Harris, makes music so delicate it feels like if you exhale a little too forcefully, it might just dissolve into thin air. After giving us an excellent body of work, Ruins, back in 2014, she's now returned with a surprise Paradise Valley 7" and here we have its lead cut, I'm Clean Now. Drifting on nothing more than a sparse acoustic finger-style guitar, the track features Harris' spectral vocals, a lovely thing that at times sounds like an indecipherable hymn from outer space.
