IN REVIEW: Nine Inch Nails - "Not the Actual Events"

It can't be coincidental that the cover of the newly released EP from Nine Inch Nails bears striking resemblance to that of the deluxe edition of And All That Could Have Been, the live album NIN released in 2002. That tour was for the 1999 album The Fragile, a vast and exploratory record that Trent Reznor and frequent collaborator turned full-time NIN member Atticus Ross have been listening to a lot lately; a reimagined version of that record was constructed as part of the massive NIN resissue campaign set to launch in 2017 (alongside, presumably, a new album).

Not to say that the five new songs handed in to fulfill Reznor's promise of new NIN in 2016 completely mimic the music from The Fragile, but much of the mood and tone of that album is present on Not the Actual Events. Burning Bright (Field On Fire) is the closest cousin to The Day the World Went Away we're ever likely to get, while the plodding, percussive beat that buoys centerpiece She's Gone Away calls to mind that 1999 record's title track. Just as telling, though, are the passages that bear more modern NIN hallmarks; opener Branches/Bones seems to have DNA from the Year Zero/The Slip era (but cuts itself much too short), while Dear World, is the nearest carryover from 2013's Hesitation Marks, and the effects on Reznor's spoken word verses on The Idea of You are a doppelganger of those used on The Downward Spiral (to the point where I was just begging for him to say, "everything's blue in this world").

Piled on top of all the familiarity, however, is a host of sonic restlessness and abrasion. For fans lulled into a false sense of security by the last two decades or so of Nine Inch Nails' discography, there are moments on Not the Actual Events that feel as unhinged and dangerous as Broken and The Downward Spiral. It's not ever truly as menacing or visceral, of course, but it's been a while since Reznor has released something quite so ugly. The hooks he's sharpened over time are mostly absent in favour of cold, thick soundscapes and sinister noise; think the violence of Broken as filtered through the skittish electro-paranoia of Year Zero and you're starting to get the gist of it.

To be frank, there are no hits to be found here, but that's hardly the point. These 21 minutes of music were designed to be more disorienting than destructive, more anxious than exhilarating. It's not likely a harbinger of what's to come, as it feels more like an act of purging than one of discovery. Still, it's impressive to hear Reznor fucking with the expectations of not only his fans but himself nearly three decades removed from Pretty Hate Machine. If he's willing to continue pushing himself in new directions, even while revisiting the past and even if it takes him to uncomfortable places, there is still plenty of excitement in pondering what Nine Inch Nails' future will sound like.

December 23, 2016 • Null
Highlights Branches/Bones • The Idea of You