With Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross engrossed in their prolific and highly decorated career in film scoring as of late, the musical output of industrial metal legends Nine Inch Nails has fallen by the wayside If you haven’t been keeping score, the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame-inducted outfit last issued new material back in 2020.
In a conversation with producer Rick Rubin conducted in the summer of 2023, Reznor outlined his evolving perception of the band’s output and how it has been impacted by the state of how music is consumed and perceived in general:
“In the context of Nine Inch Nails, in terms of an audience and the culture, the importance of music — or lack of importance of music — in today’s world, from my perspective, is a little defeating. It feels to me, in general — and I’m saying this as a 57-year-old man — music used to be the thing that, that was what I was doing when I had time. I was listening to music. I wasn’t doing it in the background while I was doing five other things, and I wasn’t treating it kind of as a disposable commodity.”
He further added:
“I kind of miss the attention music got, I miss the critical attention that music got. Not that I am interested in the critic’s opinion, but to send something out in the world and feel like it touched places, might’ve got a negative or positive [review], but somebody heard it, it got validated in its own way culturally.
Culturally, that feels askew. Like I can’t think of any review I care about today that I even trust. I could write it before it comes out because it’s already written. In fact, ChatGPT could probably do a better job, you know? Or is currently doing the job.
That makes for what I feel is a less fertile environment to put music out into — in the world of Nine Inch Nails.”
In a newly published conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Reznor revealed that some of his views haven’t changed much over the course of the past year, stating:
“Over the last 10 years or so, I’ve been a bit disillusioned by popular music. As I get older, some things feel less relatable to me. The business sucks. The way people consume music is not as inspiring as it used to be, it’s marginalized in a lot of ways. Scoring has provided a way for me to feel vital, to feel challenged.”
While those comments don’t hide Reznor and Ross‘ growing shift of interest, this same conversation also saw Reznor offer:
“It might sound corny, but we’re still in awe of how powerful music can make you feel. Writing a song, you put something out and maybe someone hears it and has a reaction to it or not. You can play it live and see something happen. But with film, being able to see experiences, sequences, scenes and know that you have the power to radically change how someone can feel is an awe-inspiring feeling for us.”
While Reznor & Ross‘ frequent forays into scoring film and TV continue to net them industry awards and acclaim, the hopes of Nine Inch Nails fans were also buoyed this past August. The reveal that the pair would be handling the score for the upcoming film ‘Tron: Ares‘ was a welcome surprise. The cherry on top though was that as opposed to their deluge of scoring output, this new project finds them once again operating under their Nine Inch Nails banner.
Last April, Reznor indicated that the desire to create new Nine Inch Nails music was growing more appealing. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter now however, he seemingly indicated that the multi-platinum outfit are wholly invested in their latest project. Here’s what he shared of that:
“We’re taking the inspiration we’ve garnered [from scoring] and funneling it into a Nine Inch Nails project, which we’re working on now. We’re ready to be back in the driver’s seat.”
While it wasn’t indicated if the project Reznor spoke of is the ‘Tron: Ares‘ score or something else, the renewed conviction in his comments are likely welcome news to the band’s fans.
