Nine Inch Nails drop new song 'God Break Down the Door': Listen
Nine Inch Nails is all set to release their new record, 'Bad Witch', on June 22. Although the six-track effort was supposed to mark the completion of their trilogy of EP releases that began with 2016’s 'Not the Actual Events' and continued on with their 'Add Violence' last year, it now seems like the new record is actually going to be a full-fledged album. It’s listed as an LP on NIN’s website and frontman Trent Reznor is referring to it as an LP in interviews, although strangely, it is confirmed to be just six tracks long. Perhaps the songs are really long or Reznor has his own idea of what an LP or EP means in the modern digital age. One can only guess!
Meanwhile, with about a month to go before D-day, the band has shared the first single from Bad Witch, titled 'God Break Down the Door' (which at just over 4 minutes in length, is not really that long a song.) Driven by a frenetic drumbeat reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem's 'Disco Infiltrator', cyberpunk synth splatters typical of NIN's style, and a haunting saxophone, the song seems to be heavily influenced by David Bowie's 'Blackstar'. Even Reznor's vocals are a far throw from his usual guttural throws and adopt a Bowie-esque croon for the occasion.
Followers of the band would know that Bowie was a constant source of inspiration to Trent Reznor. Reznor toured with Bowie and starred in his 'I’m Afraid Of Americans' music video. He penned a moving eulogy upon his passing in 2016. He even anonymously released a remix of the Blackstar track 'I Can’t Give Everything Away' and then performed it at his first live show in three years. If indeed the song is a homage to Ziggy Stardust, then it is executed in very fine taste; and if it doesn't, it foreshadows an interesting new direction for NIN's constantly adapting sound.
In an interview with Beats 1’s Zane Lowe, frontman Trent Reznor discussed the song, and how it features a particularly unique vocal performance.
Here's a transcript of what Reznor had to say:"We find if we don’t watch ourselves we tend to try to get some more comfortable with because it feels better. And from the sound of the drums to the kind of frantic drumbeat to looking around the studio and seeing the untouched baritone tenor and alto sax that are sitting there. They’re there because they remind me that I can’t play them as well as I used to be able to.
For 20 years, I’ve been saying I’m going off to really get my technique back because it would be fun to do. And there they sit taunting me in the corner. We pulled them out and we just started f**king around really, led with Atticus arranging. I was just kind of going, an hour performance kind of turned into this thing that felt like we hadn’t been there before and that started to reveal a whole different character. The space changed and then we felt motivated. When it was time to sing I was really just trying things out, just to see. I never had the courage to sing like that, I didn’t know I could sing."