By: Daniel Walker

“Came Back Haunted” is Trent Reznor’s triumphant return as the one man band, Nine Inch Nails, twenty four years after “Head Like A Hole” was released and revolutionized EDM with his industrial dance groove. With Nine Inch Nails, the scene progressed further than KMFDM, Ministry, or Chicago’s very own Al Jorgensen were able to take it. Trent makes all of his music electronically, with very little assistance on his computer, and only has a band for touring. He founded Nothing Records in New Orleans and produced other electronic acts such as Meat Beat Manifesto and released the major label debut of Marilyn Manson and his next three albums before their falling out. After The Fragile and Things Falling Apart, Trent left his label and moved to Hollywood, got sober, had his “last” NIN tour and married Mariqueen Maandig.

Trent then teamed up with Atticus Ross and composed the soundtrack for The Social Network and won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for best original film score. The duo teamed up with his wife for a dream of Trent’s, a female fronted project, How To Destroy Angels. That band played Coachella and had a stage created by the people behind Amon Tobin’s Isam stage. The beginning of 2013 brought with it rumors of a Nine Inch Nails resurrection and when I saw HTDA on the Lollapalooza leak, my hopes were high.

Thursday saw the release of “Came Back Haunted,” the first single from NIN’s upcoming album Hesitation Marks, and I was immediately entranced by the dance friendly drum tracking and the whirring synthesizer that starts after the first chorus. Trent readily admits in the first line, “foot is deep and the mouth is wide”, and through the song tells you why he’s returned, that he’s has been haunted and has “seen some things on the other side”.

Reznor is back and it sounds like there is a huge chip on his shoulder – or monkey on his back – but either way you will find me in the front row at Lollapalooza for Nine Inch Nails’ first United States performance since their 2009 Wave Goodbye tour – and I thought I would never have the pleasure of seeing them again. Look for my Lollapalooza write up with a Nine Inch Nails feature in August.

 

 
Look for Hesitation Marks to drop September 3rd and pre-order your copy on iTunes here.

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