Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross strike a tone similar to their soundtrack work, alternating between hope and dread in sprawling ambient meditations released in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
It was right and proper of Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor to name his expansive, four-volume 2008 suite of instrumental work Ghosts; in the Dickensian sense, they foretold his future. Consisting more of sketches than songs—only six of the albums’ 36 tracks run over four minutes, often just barely—Ghosts presaged Reznor and his collaborator Atticus Ross’ work as soundtrack composers, a sideline that would soon compete with Nine Inch Nails as the pair’s creative outlet of choice. The music that resulted from this transition to instrumental recordings netted the pair an Oscar and often surpassed the quality of the films and television series it was written to accompany.
The fifth and sixth volumes of Ghosts (subtitled Together and Locusts respectively) return to the atmospheric terrain now familiar from Reznor and Ross’ soundtrack work: buzzy ambience, simple melodic hooks, an emotional palette that vacillates between peace and dread. But rather than soundtracking an on-screen drama, they arise from the very real COVID-19 pandemic and its society-wide remedy, social distancing. The musicians say that the current crisis was the reason they completed the two records in the first place, “as a means of staying somewhat sane.” As such, Ghosts V-VI—released for free less than two months after the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency—are very likely the first major albums to have been inspired by the coronavirus crisis.
These two Ghosts volumes feel much more concrete and ambitious than the original quartet. Each has its own clear-cut identity, too: Volume five (Together) has a more hopeful sound, while volume six (Locusts) is where the dread creeps in. And while the 2008 iteration’s songs were short as a rule, many of the tracks here are uncharacteristically sprawling. This isn’t about getting ideas down on tape and shooting them into the world—this is about identifying an emotional angle and working it as long and as hard as possible.
Maybe it’s because the tone better matches the animating spirit of the project, or maybe it’s simply because the pair have better ideas in a major key at the moment, but Ghosts V: Together is solidly the stronger of the two. Opening track “Letting Go While Holding On” begins with a woozy, eardrum-tickling buzz, adding a five-note melody and layered, synthesized vocals until it feels almost like a choral composition. It’s followed by “Together,” which employs the same basic structure to even stronger effect.
The album’s subsequent tracks each introduce a novel element or two into that basic template. “Out in the Open” begins with a sort of faux string section, lending it a filmic feel; “Apart” brings in a flute midway through; “Your Touch” adds science-fictional bleeps, sweeps, and creeps. Throughout, there’s a vibe of quiet optimism. By the time the closing track, “Still Right Here,” rolls around, you’re so used to ambient uplift that when a full-fledged rhythm erupts around the 4:30 mark, it’s as bracing as cold water in the face.
Ghosts VI: Locusts is Together’s opposite number. It’s anxious and anxiety-inducing, very much of a piece with Reznor and Ross’ Watchmen score; indeed, from its clockwork motif on down, the opening “The Cursed Clock” feels like an unused excerpt from that world of paranoid superheroes. To their credit, the composers introduce a slew of novel elements here—horns in “Around Every Corner” and “The Worriment Waltz,” a huge “The Perfect Drug”-style drum breakdown in “Run Like Hell,” the sound of some massive thing inhaling and exhaling in “Just Breathe,” a susurrus of sampled vocals in “Turn This Off Please,” a cyclical heartbeat in closing track “Almost Dawn.” 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.
Ghosts V-VI speak to their moment in just the way Reznor and Ross intended. Trapped in homes and apartments with only ourselves for company, we can all use music that feels as alternately hopeful and despairing as we do—and consuming it in two-and-a-half-hour chunks is not nearly the tall task it might have been a month ago. With these albums in your ear, you can soar and/or jitter at your leisure.
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