Ghosts VI: Locusts

Last updated

Ghosts VI: Locusts
Nin ghostsVI.jpg
Studio album by
Nine Inch Nails
ReleasedMarch 26, 2020 (2020-03-26)
Length83:10
Label The Null Corporation
Producer
Nine Inch Nails chronology
Ghosts V: Together
(2020)		Ghosts VI: Locusts
(2020)
Halo numbers chronology
Halo 33
(2020)		Halo 34
(2020)

Ghosts VI: Locusts is the eleventh studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. It was released as a free download on March 26, 2020, as a show of solidarity with the band's fans during the COVID-19 pandemic. [1] [2] It was released simultaneously with the tenth Nine Inch Nails album, Ghosts V: Together , and is the third release of the Ghosts series.

Contents

Background

In 2019, after releasing their eighth soundtrack to the film Bird Box , Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross completed a subsequent score for The Woman in the Window ; however, when the production studio decided to re-edit the film after test screenings, [3] Reznor and Ross' score was withdrawn. [4] When evoking the project, Reznor admitted, “It’s frustrating when you did that much work and it’s gone. And we were proud—and they were proud—of the movie that it was.” [4]

In March 2020, following two subsequent 2019 soundtracks Watchmen [5] and Waves , [6] Reznor announced two unexpected releases, Ghosts V: Together and Ghosts VI: Locusts, for free download through the official Nine Inch Nails website, YouTube channel, and streaming platforms: "Hours and hours of music. Free. Some of it kind of happy, some not so much." [7] The band's website added, "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."

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic? 7.8/10 [8]
Metacritic 80/100 [9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Blabbermouth.net 9/10 [11]
Exclaim! 7/10 [12]
The Line of Best Fit 8.5/10 [13]
Loud and Quiet 8/10 [14]
NME Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [15]
Paste 8.7/10 [16]
Pitchfork 6.7/10 [17]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [18]
Sputnikmusic 4.2/5 [19]

Ghosts VI: Locusts received generally positive reviews from music critics, with an average rating of 80 out of 100 based on ten reviews on Metacritic. [9] NME critic James McMahon has described the record "as unsettling as a record entitled Locusts should be," while referring to the whole project as "music for daydreams." [15] Kory Grow of Rolling Stone noted that "the music turns much darker in Ghosts VI, which, by proxy, makes it the more interesting of the two;" Grow also stated that "somehow they [Ghosts V–VI] sound more considered and complete than the initial Ghosts volumes." [18] Pitchfork critic Sean T. Collins described the record as "anxious and anxiety-inducing" and further remarked: "Yet without Together's relatively rousing melodic template and pacing to propel it, Locusts often feels like its titular swarm, devouring itself for 80-plus minutes until there's not much left by the end." [17]

For Jon Pareles of The New York Times , Ghosts VI offers none of the "meditative" or "melodic" "sanctuary" of Ghosts V. "It is harrowing from end to end, stoked with rhythmic tension, dissonance and amorphous noise: a soundscape of impending collapse and inexorable entropy." The album "thrusts the anxiety upfront. Tracks tick and pulse with the tensest kind of minimalistic repetition, and when piano and bell tones appear, they're usually brittle, not cozy." [20]

Spin 's John Paul Bullock thought that the record was "much more menacing" than Ghosts V, adding that "there's a feeling of forward momentum to the entire album but we might not like where it's headed." [21] Remarking that "things sound and feel more industrialised" on Ghosts VI, Sputnikmusic's staff critic Simon referred to the album as "an all-out Lynchian nightmare." [19] Neil Z. Yeung made a similar comparison in the review for AllMusic, remarking "A stray discordant key here, an ominous atmospheric sound effect there, Locusts may not offer any hope or solace, but it's objectively the more interesting experience." [10]

Track listing

Track listing for Ghosts VI: Locusts
No.TitleLength
1."The Cursed Clock"7:00
2."Around Every Corner"10:53
3."The Worriment Waltz"9:26
4."Run Like Hell"5:38
5."When It Happens (Don't Mind Me)"2:56
6."Another Crashed Car"2:24
7."Temp Fix"1:46
8."Trust Fades"3:13
9."A Really Bad Night"4:54
10."Your New Normal"3:46
11."Just Breathe"7:00
12."Right Behind You"1:44
13."Turn This Off Please"13:10
14."So Tired"3:45
15."Almost Dawn"5:35
Total length:83:10

Charts

Chart performance for Ghosts VI: Locusts
Chart (2020)Peak
position
US Top Album Sales (Billboard) [22] 78
US Top Current Album Sales (Billboard) [23] 60

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References

  1. ↑ Chan, Anna (March 26, 2020). "Nine Inch Nails Drops Two Surprise New Albums For Free in These 'Weird Times'". Billboard . Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  2. ↑ Farokhmanesh, Megan (March 26, 2020). "Nine Inch Nails just released two new albums for free". The Verge . Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  3. ↑ Keegan, Rebecca (July 9, 2019). "Amy Adams' 'Woman in the Window' to Move to 2020 as Disney Retools Fox Film". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  4. 1 2 Monroe, Jazz (December 24, 2019). "Trent Reznor Calls Scoring Bird Box a "Fucking Waste of Time," Scraps The Woman in the Window Score". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  5. ↑ Grow, Kory (October 21, 2019). "Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross Plot Three-Volume 'Watchmen' Soundtrack Albums". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  6. ↑ "WAVES (ORIGINAL SCORE) - Nine Inch Nails". Nine Inch Nails. November 26, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  7. ↑ Reznor, Trent (March 26, 2020). "Anybody out there? 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". @trent_reznor. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Ghosts VI: Locusts by Nine Inch Nails reviews | Any Decent Music". AnyDecentMusic? . Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  9. 1 2 "Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts VI: Locusts". Metacritic . Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  10. 1 2 Yeung, Neil Z. (March 26, 2020). "GHOSTS VI: LOCUSTS - Nine Inch Nails | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  11. ↑ Gorania, Jay H. (March 30, 2020). "Ghosts V: Together" / "Ghosts VI: Locusts". Blabbermouth.net . Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  12. ↑ Barnabe, Dylan (April 6, 2020). "Nine Inch Nails Ghosts VI: Locusts | Exclaim!". Exclaim! . Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  13. ↑ Kelly, Tyler Damara (March 26, 2020). "Offering both harsh reality and escape, Nine Inch Nails are at their best pushing expectations". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  14. ↑ Skala, Jemima (March 31, 2020). "Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts V & VI - Review". Loud and Quiet . Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  15. 1 2 McMahon, James (March 26, 2020). "Nine Inch Nails – 'Ghosts: V-VI' review: a timely two-part dip into daydreams and nightmares". NME . Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  16. ↑ Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby (March 31, 2020). "On Ghosts V and VI, Nine Inch Nails Soundtrack the Unthinkable". Paste . Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  17. 1 2 Collins, Sean T. (April 1, 2020). "Nine Inch Nails — Ghosts VI: Locusts Review". Pitchfork . Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  18. 1 2 Grow, Kory (March 27, 2020). "Nine Inch Nails' 'Ghosts V and VI' Combine Hope With Shadows for a Soundtrack to a World in Crisis". Rolling Stone . Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  19. 1 2 Stanciu, Raul; Simon (March 27, 2020). "Review: Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts VI: Locust (staff)". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  20. ↑ Pareles, Jon (March 31, 2020). "Nine Inch Nails Faces the Pandemic With Hope, Despair and Noise". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  21. ↑ Bullock, John Paul (March 27, 2020). "Nine Inch Nails Face the Despair of Today on Ghosts V-VI". Spin . Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Nine Inch Nails Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  23. ↑ "Nine Inch Nails Chart History (Top Current Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
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