Add Violence (also known as Halo 31) is the third proper EP from Nine Inch Nails. It was released digitally on July 21, 2017 on Capitol Records, though pre-orders through nin.com allowed for a download two days early. This EP acts as the second installment of a trilogy, following the 2016 release of Not The Actual Events, and preceding the 2018 release of Bad Witch.
Track List
- "Less Than" – 3:30
- "The Lovers" – 4:09
- "This Isn't The Place" – 4:44
- "Not Anymore" – 3:06
- "The Background World" – 11:44
Formats
Akin to the first EP, Add Violence is available as a CD, a 12" vinyl and a physical component. It had a wide digital release on July 21, 2017, under Trent Reznor's label The Null Corporation, and was followed by the release of a physical component the week of August 8 and a CD release on October 13. A 12" vinyl version followed on November 17.
Regarding the physical component, the official description reads:
PROPER USE OF THIS RECORDING REQUIRES IT TO EXIST IN THE PHYSICAL WORLD, AS REAL AS YOU ARE. CHOOSING THIS PACKAGE GETS YOU THE DIGITAL FILES AND WE WILL SHIP THE ACCOMPANYING PHYSICAL COMPONENT TO YOUR RESIDENCE WHICH MAY PROVIDE ADDITIONAL CLARITY. VERY LIMITED SUPPLIES AVAILABLE.
About
The EP was officially announced on July 13, 2017. The EP's first track, "Less Than", was released digitally on July 13, 2017, with an accompanying music video directed by Brook Linder. "This Isn't The Place" was made available on the official NIN YouTube channel on July 18, 2017.
As quoted in a press release on nin.com:
"ADD VIOLENCE finds Nine Inch Nails becoming more accessible and impenetrable at the same time. The sonic palette expands significantly from Not The Actual Events, incorporating elements of beauty into the dark dissonance. The narrative arc linking the three records begins to emerge through the disassociated lyrics and the provocative and clue-filled cover artwork and accompanying physical component, available exclusively through the NIN.com store."
The official nin.com website description states (akin to Not The Actual Events): "PART TWO. THE VIEW WIDENS AND EVERYTHING IS IN QUESTION."
In an interview with Zane Lowe[1], Reznor somewhat explained the concept underlying each piece of the trilogy:
"Let me drop some cryptic information on you. The idea of this three EP thing was all to find truth in us figuring out who we are now and how we fit into the world. The first EP, Not The Actual Events, was meant to be from a personal angry self-destructive reflection on that question and defining how I feel in a world, that feels stranger, part of that’s aging. Part of that’s because the world is getting weirder. Finding your place in a world that looks different every day little bit changes and reacting to that in the first EP through anger and self-destruction and setting a match to your life.
The second EP, Add Violence, was meant to the same question. But looking for answers externally. Maybe it’s because of this and there’s comfort in that. Maybe there’s a reason things feel kind of crazy and it’s not that I’m insane, that I’m in a situation that’s insane.
And with the third EP which has grown into an LP (Bad Witch). It was coming to one final look at that question from rejecting what EP number two says, and it wasn’t an easy answer… The entire system has a much more bleak and pessimistic outlook and I want to say too much because it gives away kind of the what the thing is. But it wasn’t necessarily what we thought it was going to be when we started. I thought it was going to go more science fiction. I don’t really want to overwhelm you with cleverness and deep diving and part of that felt like an arms race and it also felt like a cop out."
EP Title
As with "Not The Actual Events", the title is derived from lyrics from the EP's first track. In this case, add a little violence from "Less Than".
Hidden Themes / Possible ARG
With the amount of clues hinted at and unmistakable lyrical correlations present throughout both EPs, Reznor stated the following in an interview posted online on July 26, 2017:
"With the new EPs, I liked world-building, and writing music that can sit in that world. I was always the guy who desperately wanted the Dark Side of the Moon to line up with The Wizard of Oz. I wanted to believe somebody was so far out of their mind that they figured that out. Fuck, I got goose bumps just thinking about that possibility right now — the idea that someone could be thinking so hard about an album.
What the obsessives maybe don’t know is that if I were to explain everything to you, or just explicitly lay out what the new EP is about, you’d only be disappointed. You don’t really want to know. The experience of grappling with the thing is what makes it interesting, not the immediate gratification of going, 'Oh, that’s what it means.'"[2]
Artwork
The curious "scratch marks" seen in the various iterations of the Not The Actual Events cover artwork also faintly appear in the upper right corner of the Add Violence cover, seemingly lining up to become an eventual bigger picture. It is worth noting that the digital edition cover artwork juxtaposed with the amazon.com commercial release bears subtle differences.
On July 17, 2017, Trent Reznor tweeted an image of the back cover with the accompanying text: "NINE INCH NAILS: ADD VIOLENCE - BACK COVER AVAILABLE 21 JULY REMEMBER WHEN RECORDS HAD BACK COVERS? NO? MAYBE THIS ONE IS IMPORTANT."
Credits
- Nine Inch Nails: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
- Written, arranged, produced, programmed and peformed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
- Mix: Alan Moulder
- Mastering: Tom Baker at Baker Mastering
- Engineering: Jun Murakawa, Chris Richardson, Chris Holmes, Dustin Mosley, Geoff Neal
- Additional vocals on "Less Than": Sharlotte Gibson & Allison Iraheta
- Art Direction: John Crawford
- World Integration and Execution: 42 Entertainment
- Additional Concept Development: Church Lieu
- Additional Design: Corey Holms
- Legal: Zia Modabber for Katten Munchin Rosenman LLP, Ross Rosen for Ross B. Rosen & Associates, LLC
- Management: Silva Artist Management
- Booking: Marc Geiger for WME
- Business Management: William Harper and Michael Walsh for Gelfand, Rennet & Feldman
Thank you: Mariqueen Maandig Reznor, Claudia Sarne, Alex Lieu, Susan Bonds, Koji Egawa, Ruairi O'Flaherty, Ray Diaz, Steve Barnett, Michelle Jubelirer, Ashley Newton, Ambrosia Healy, Arjun Pulijal, Erin Cooney, Jim Chancellor, Ed Scott, Jim Pascoe, Corinne Schiavone, Michelle Weinberg
Published by Form and Texture (ASCAP) / Administered by Kobalt Songs Music Publishing, Songs In the Key of Mink (BMI) / Administered by Downtown DMP Songs
External Links
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