It makes sense that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, whose foray into the world of film scoring has made room for more ambient reflections, are a perfect fit for creating the soundtrack to the world's current pandemic. Directly influenced by the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, Nine Inch Nails released two new albums in the Ghost series that vacillate between feelings of hopefulness and despair.
Alongside the release of Ghosts V: Together, NIN delivers its darker twin, Ghosts VI: Locusts. As the title suggests, the album invokes a much gloomier and foreboding casting of current events, as well as the state of both Reznor and Ross's psyches.
However bleak, the desire to create comes from a good place. "Music — whether listening to it, thinking about it or creating it — has always been the thing that helped us get through anything, good or bad," wrote the band in a post on their website. "With that in mind, we decided to burn the midnight oil and complete these new Ghosts records as a means of staying somewhat sane."
Totalling more than 80 minutes of chilling ambient, Ghosts VI is as unsettling as it is dazzling. While it may be uncomfortable to sit through such chilling tracks as "Just Breathe" and "Run Like Hell," there is a somewhat cathartic experience in sitting through the album in its entirety. "It made us feel better to make these and it feels good to share them. Music has always had a way of making us feel a little less alone in the world…and hopefully it does for you, too. Remembers, everyone is in this thing together and this too shall pass."
NIN have always excelled at conjuring thought-provoking and moody soundscapes that connect people to the present moment: both Together and Locusts are no different.
(The Null Corporation)Alongside the release of Ghosts V: Together, NIN delivers its darker twin, Ghosts VI: Locusts. As the title suggests, the album invokes a much gloomier and foreboding casting of current events, as well as the state of both Reznor and Ross's psyches.
However bleak, the desire to create comes from a good place. "Music — whether listening to it, thinking about it or creating it — has always been the thing that helped us get through anything, good or bad," wrote the band in a post on their website. "With that in mind, we decided to burn the midnight oil and complete these new Ghosts records as a means of staying somewhat sane."
Totalling more than 80 minutes of chilling ambient, Ghosts VI is as unsettling as it is dazzling. While it may be uncomfortable to sit through such chilling tracks as "Just Breathe" and "Run Like Hell," there is a somewhat cathartic experience in sitting through the album in its entirety. "It made us feel better to make these and it feels good to share them. Music has always had a way of making us feel a little less alone in the world…and hopefully it does for you, too. Remembers, everyone is in this thing together and this too shall pass."
NIN have always excelled at conjuring thought-provoking and moody soundscapes that connect people to the present moment: both Together and Locusts are no different.