A review of Nine Inch Nails' "Not The Actual Events"

Trent Reznor seems to have decided that 2017 will be one of his active years. Along with definitive reissues of all of Nine Inch Nails' core releases on vinyl and high resolution audio, he has promised "two new, major works" from Nine Inch Nails. Then there's his and Atticus Ross' score for Peter Berg's Patriots Day (official release in a few weeks), the upcoming Ken Burns doc about the Vietnam War (due in Q3), and who the hell knows what else. But, before all this, Reznor started things off by fulfilling his promise from last year by releasing new Nine Inch Nails music in 2016, namely, Not The Actual Events, a 21-minute, 5-track EP.

Reznor says the story and concept for NTAE originated from a few years' worth of musical experiments and the idea of directly referencing back to a track of his from the mid-90's. He says it's impenetrable and unfriendly. He says it should be played loud. Some of the lyrics here feel like automatic writing, stream of consciousness. Reznor's voice is affected on some tracks, nearly unintelligible on others, and, on the opener "Branches/Bones", half of the song's lyrics aren't sung. Maybe we're supposed to...feel them...? Also, the fourth track, "The Idea of You", sounds a bit like electronic Metallica.

It's dense and it's brutal, but I can't tell if the fucking thing is good. I haven't stopped listening to it since it came out, but that means nothing; I'm a Nine Inch Nails fan and that's my function. I can say that I actively enjoy "Branches/Bones" and that, when the chorus of "Burning Bright" kicks in, I feel something explode inside of myself. But that's me. Not The Actual Events is on all streaming services as well as vinyl and some other mysterious format Reznor is teasing people with, so give it a listen and decide for yourself.

A side note: One of the most intriguing aspects of the EP (for me) is its artwork, which is identical to that of NIN's 2002 release, Still.

Still was a 9-track collection of acoustic interpretations of earlier works and leftover tracks from the Fragile sessions and it sounds absolutely fuckall like this new EP. Which begs the question: is NTAE to whatever's to come from Nine Inch Nails next year as Still was to The Fragile? Are we getting a new double album? Are the tracks on NTAE alternate versions? Also: who killed John F. Kennedy? Why is Hitler? Are 23 and 42 related?
In 2017, we shall find our answers.