Each Nine Inch Nails (NIN) album is like an onion, at face value you have an album, but as you peel away each of its layers it becomes something much more.
“Hesitation Marks”, NIN’s first record in five years, continues in the same tradition.
Since NIN’s hiatus in 2009, Trent Reznor, the man behind the NIN project, has found new fame scoring several movies, released new music under through a new project called “How To Destroy Angels” and has fought inner demons with some success.
“Hesitation Marks” is about dealing with Reznor’s new lease on fame and dealing with the issues that plague a mind riddled with self-doubt and angst.
Skeptics and diehard fans might ask what else Reznor has to say; he’s done it all over his 22-year career.
Don’t fret, this album is chalk full of feelings of isolation, fear, self-understanding and sorrow, and it’s wrapped in the music industry standard saran wrap that Reznor loathes.
Surprisingly, you could dance to this album. Similar to NIN’s first album, “Pretty Hate Machine”, “Hesitation Marks” relies on fast tempo synthesizers and drums to drive its dance-like songs.
It’s refreshing to experience an album like this after being bombarded by the fashionable music trend that dubstep and Electronic Dance Music (EDM) has created.
It proves that you don’t need ear piercing drops in a song to make electronic music interesting and danceable.
If Kanye West’s “Yeezus” peaked your interest this album is a must listen. NIN’s influence is undeniably heard in “Yeezus.”
“Hesitation Marks” represents the evolution on NIN and remnants of NIN greatest albums can be found here. It’s accessible to newcomers but also doesn’t stray from what made this group reach mammoth status.