Nine Inch Nails - Not The Actual Events

Nine Inch Nails
Not The Actual Events EP
2016
Spotify

Before this record it seemed like Nine Inch Nails may never release something new. Trent Reznor seemed perfectly happy to be uncomfortable at Hollywood events and produce slick movie music. He's great at it, and the films He works on are often better for it, but Nine Inch Nails is where the real meat is. This new EP hangs tight to some of the more industrial aspects of NIN but it also features some really cool electronica elements on songs like "Dear World,". The record harnesses some of that real power that came from their early work, deep and brooding. Yet their is so much sound coming at you track after track of some real heavy stuff. When Reznor sings lines like "I feel like I've been here before" and that signature stifled anger bubbles up on "She's Gone Away" like Reznor is trying to keep a lid on something as powerful as the sun. The thing about NIN however is if you are into them, you are usually all in and for the casual listener they really don't make that much of an impact. Their music is so cerebral and deep that you almost can't passively listen which is both a strength or a weakness depending on who you ask. What is very clear however is that NIN have reclaimed their original sound in a very, very big way.

The record however being an EP is short, and just when you think NIN might be really getting in to something, its over. It is almost as if Reznor had something in his mind that he just could not express in his new career and NIN was the only conduit that could do the trick. It makes the album feel a bit disposible like perhaps Reznor can take this album or leave it, which with his body of work He basically can. It is hard to imagine a place where this music will really connect with people, or where someone might call one of these tracks their favorite song. The more you listen the more Not The Actual Events becomes part of the whole of Nine Inch Nails rather than one specific point to hold on to. It is great to hear from them but in 2016 it does not seem like music like this is really going to move the needle one way or another. When a band disappears for this long the return has to be spectacular to re-establish them in your mind, this EP unfortunately is not.

6.9 out of 10