Twelve years later, Nine Inch Nails (the cover stars of our most recent print edition and 2020 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees) have surprise-released the follow-up to their career-defining — and re-defining — instrumental opus, Ghosts I–IV. The band's new offering, Ghosts V - VI, is 23 tracks in all, divided between two albums, and available now for free download.
"Anybody out there?" NIN mastermind Trent Reznor asked on Twitter. "New Nine Inch Nails out now. Ghosts V - VI. Hours and hours of music. Free. Some of it kind of happy, some not so much."
The group also shared the following message on their official website.
NINE INCH NAILS GHOSTS V-VI AVAILABLE NOW
FRIENDS-
WEIRD TIMES INDEED…
AS THE NEWS SEEMS TO TURN EVER MORE GRIM BY THE HOUR, WE'VE FOUND OURSELVES VACILLATING WILDLY BETWEEN FEELING LIKE THERE MAY BE HOPE AT TIMES TO UTTER DESPAIR – OFTEN CHANGING MINUTE TO MINUTE. ALTHOUGH EACH OF US DEFINE OURSELVES AS ANTISOCIAL-TYPES WHO PREFER BEING ON OUR OWN, THIS SITUATION HAS REALLY MADE US APPRECIATE THE POWER AND NEED FOR CONNECTION.
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. WITH THAT IN MIND, WE DECIDED TO BURN THE MIDNIGHT OIL AND COMPLETE THESE NEW GHOSTS RECORDS AS A MEANS OF STAYING SOMEWHAT SANE.
GHOSTS V: TOGETHER IS FOR WHEN THINGS SEEM LIKE IT MIGHT ALL BE OKAY, AND GHOSTS VI: LOCUSTS… WELL, YOU'LL FIGURE IT OUT.
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. REMEMBER, EVERYONE IS IN THIS THING TOGETHER AND THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AGAIN SOON.
BE SMART AND SAFE AND TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER.
WITH LOVE,
TRENT & ATTICUS
HERE'S WHERE YOU CAN LISTEN RIGHT NOW:
FREE DOWNLOAD FROM US
YOUTUBE
ALBUMS WILL BE AVAILABLE ON ALL STREAMING SERVICES TONIGHT
