Nine Inch Noize (album)

Nine Inch Noize is the collaborative musical project of Nine Inch Nails (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross), and the German electronic musician Boys Noize (Alexander Ridha). These musicians had produced several previous collaborations; Challengers (Mixed) (2024), the production of Nine Inch Nails's Tron: Ares soundtrack (2025),^[1] and Boys Noize providing remixes on the Tron Ares: Divergence (2026) remix album.^[2] Their work on the film scores had inspired Reznor to express Nine Inch Nails "in more purely electronic terms" in live performances;^[3] Boys Noize supported Nine Inch Nails on their Peel It Back Tour (2025–2026),^[4] with the Nine Inch Noize act playing Coachella 2026,^[2] with vocal contributions by Mariqueen Maandig.^[5]

The album features new versions of songs by Nine Inch Nails, including a new version of "Memorabilia" by Soft Cell (originally a B-side inclusion on the "Closer to God" single^[5]), and also a cover of "Parasite" by How to Destroy Angels. The album was recorded partially live, in studio settings, on planes, and elsewhere.^[6][7] The version of "She's Gone Away" takes its instrumental from Boys Noize's song "Girl Crush", and the version of "Parasite" incorporates production from Boys Noize's "Xpress Yourself".^[8] Musically, Nine Inch Noize has been described as a live album, studio recording, and remix album.^[9] The album's structure follows the setlist of Nine Inch Noize's Coachella 2026 performance, which took place a week before the album's release.^[6]

Summarize Fact Check

Nine Inch Noize was released on April 17, 2026, as Halo 38 in the halo numbering system,^[2] via the Null Corporation and Interscope Records.^[9][13][14] The record was first announced on April 8 via a billboard advertisement on the way to Coachella in Indio, California.^[2] According to the review aggregator Metacritic, the album received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 from 7 critics.^[10]

Critics praised the album's nature as both a live album, studio recording, and remix album,^[11][9] with AllMusic's Neil Z. Yeung stating the album "goes beyond the idea of a 'remix'",^[5] while Pitchfork's Will Lynch assessed the record as "not so much a live album as a live-inspired album", and described Ridha's contribution as an overt one, saying, "simply put, he brings the rave".^[14] Louder's Rich Hobson called the record "spacious and clean" unlike typical lusty "grime and nihilism" on Nine Inch Nails's other work.^[13] Some critics commented on the crowd noise; while Lynch felt the fading was not smooth and its lack of consistency made it seem "a little canned" like a laugh track,^[14] Consequence's Paolo Ragusa compared it to the shifts of brightness when traveling through a tunnel.^[12] Hobson bemoaned the live album as an "incomplete puzzle" without accompanying Coachella footage.^[13]

Clash's Robin Murray dubbed "Vessel" as "a torrent of explicit distorted digitalism",^[11] Lynch felt the track had a "sassy staccato funk" reminding him of Prince and Talking Heads,^[14] and Yeung remarked that the song's prominent beat heavily benefited from the remixing.^[5] Ragusa felt that "Closer" remained a "pop masterpiece" in its new interpretation, praising the "supercharged" remix for its enhancement of the synths and rework of the bridge,^[12] while Kerrang!'s James Hickie respected that the song was not overhauled extensively given its "iconic status".^[9] Lynch compared Ridha's style with "Closer", opining the new version felt "truly fresh", praising the rearrangement of the post-chorus arpeggio into isolation in the beginning, and said that the song managed to be a "fuck yes" moment on the album despite the obviousness of its inclusion.^[14] Of "Heresy", Ragusa wrote it had a new wave touch, and the remix made it "even freakier" and its beat was "even more destabilizing".^[12] Lynch felt this version "materially improves" upon the original and citing the pairing Maandig's voice with the opening drum loop as "elegant",^[14] while Murray wrote the "seductive duet ... sizzles with scarcely pent-up sexuality",^[11] and Hobson compared it to the style of Prince's Purple Rain (1984) and Godflesh.^[13]

Notes

• "She's Gone Away" heavily samples "Girl Crush" (2020), written and performed by Boys Noize and Rico Nasty.

Credits are adapted from Tidal.^[16]

• Boys Noize – production, mixing
• Trent Reznor – production, mixing
• Atticus Ross – production, mixing
• Jacob Moreno – engineering