The Slip

Artist: Nine Inch Nails
Album: The Slip




I had posted last week about the surprise new Nine Inch Nails track that showed up as a free download on his official site with more to come on May 5th. Well come it did... a whole new album, and it's free! Simply go to the official NIN website, and the link is right there. There are no less than four options for the download, (of different formats and quality) and for a fun kick, they have somehow managed to have many different artworks come up with iTunes. (On the iPod certain songs come up with different artwork.)

There is little information or explaination (which is really a NIN staple)just simply a quote from Trent that reads: "thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one's on me" He gives you the files and means to remix it, and asks that you forward it on, blog about it, do what you want.

Thanks dude! But how is it?

Track one, "999,999" starts off typically ominous and creepy. An instrumental that builds tension, then leads dirrectly into the second track, "1,000,000." "1,000,000" is a pretty straight forward NIN track that reminds me of the material on "White Teeth." Aside from a few other instrumentals near the end, the songs are pretty tight and pop-like (for NIN.) He might never do another "Pretty Hate Machine," but this is pretty close.

Not sure what this means from an industry standpoint... though I love that he literally has nobody to answer to. He is just doing whatever the heck he wants. (In the past bands that have put tracks up for free get the wrath of their label.) This may truly be just a gift to his fans.

Enjoy