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Nine Inch Nails’s “Haunted” Comeback

It’s hard not to interpret the track as a reaction to Trent Reznor’s detour into Tinsel Town.

Nine Inch Nails' Haunted Comeback
Photo: Columbia Records

It’s been five years since Nine Inch Nails’ aptly titled The Slip, which was offered for free as a digital download. Since then, Trent Reznor has reinvented himself as a tux-donning, red-carpet fixture, nabbing himself a Golden Globe and Academy Award for his brilliant score with Atticus Ross for David Fincher’s The Social Network. The band—a revolving lineup that now includes Jane’s Addiction’s Eric Avery, King Crimson’s Adrian Belew, and Telefon Tel Aviv’s Josh Eustis—is poised to make a comeback, however, with Hesitation Marks, which marks Reznor’s return to a major label (the album drops in September on Columbia Records) and includes the lead single “Came Back Haunted,” out today. It’s hard not to interpret the track—a surprisingly synth-poppy, even sexy, groove—as a reaction to Reznor’s detour into Tinsel Town, but either way, it’s welcome return.

YouTube video

If “Came Back Haunted” is making you misty-eyed for some classic NIN, Reznor has posted a SoundCloud playlist featuring all of the band’s singles. And in case you missed it, there’s always this total mindfuck.

Sal Cinquemani

Sal Cinquemani is the co-founder and co-editor of Slant Magazine. His writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Village Voice, and others. He is also an award-winning screenwriter/director and festival programmer.

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