Welcome Oblivion - How To Destroy Angels (2013)

I want a Nine Inch Nails musical or something. Doesn’t have to be fancy or highbrow, just a good old jukebox show that would give me an excuse to hear Broadway’s stars belt out an ensemble version of Terrible Lie. And don’t kid yourself; Piggy would be incredible as a Stomp-style dance number. This didn’t come out of nowhere: a Tony is all Trent Reznor needs to join the ranks of EGOT winners.

Neither here nor there. How To Destroy Angels was a brief creative outlet for Reznor, his wife Mariqueen Maandig, and his late-career collaborator / muse / enabler Atticus Ross. It’s not significantly different from latter-day NIN or the various soundtracks the Reznor / Ross team have done, although Maandig’s voice is a welcome addition to it.

You get tense electronic pop that occasionally explodes into something much angrier or collapses into something much moodier.

Tracks I Liked

Welcome Oblivion - A 90s NIN tune, basically, slightly toned down but with the same sneering loathing.

Ice Age - It’s a calm, twee pop song if you don’t pay attention to lyrics like “Sometimes the hate in me is keeping me alive.” Oh, and the decidedly unsettling ending.

Strings And Attractors - possibly a reference to quantum physics, but it’s a great lyric and a great tune