Maps of Music

Bad Witch (2018)

Where the lyrics of Bad Witch take you, and where it was really made.

Bad Witch began as a planned EP, and at about 30 minutes it is Nine Inch Nails' shortest full-length album.

Place unknown

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Bad Witch: ninth studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails
Released June 22, 2018 by The Null Corporation and Capitol Records
Final part of a trilogy after Not the Actual Events (2016) and Add Violence (2017)
Produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross; Alan Moulder credited with mixing
First studio album since Year Zero (2007) not co-produced by Alan Moulder
Just over 30 minutes long; the band's shortest full-length release
Sole single: God Break Down the Door

Trilogy planned as EPs: Not the Actual Events in December 2016, Add Violence in July 2017
Trent Reznor said the first concept felt too predictable and forced, which delayed the third entry
After Add Violence concerts, Reznor and Atticus Ross chose an exciting, risky direction that included saxophone
Influenced in part by David Bowie; Reznor had collaborated with Bowie in the 1990s
Originally set as an EP, it developed into a full-length album
Reznor later decided to promote it as a full album after seeing EPs overlooked on streaming sites
Cold and Black and Infinite North America 2018 Tour announced alongside the release

Formed in 1988 in Cleveland, Ohio, by singer-songwriter Trent Reznor.
Reznor was the sole permanent member until Atticus Ross officially joined in 2016.
The first live performance took place at Graffiti in Pittsburgh on October 27, 1988.
Signed with TVT Records and later moved to Interscope Records.

Core members are Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Robin Finck, Josh Freese, and Stu Brooks form the current live lineup.
Many former live members have been named, including Chris Vrenna, Danny Lohner, and Charlie Clouser.

Released Pretty Hate Machine (1989), Broken (1992), The Downward Spiral (1994), The Fragile (1999), and With Teeth (2005).
Released Year Zero (2007), Hesitation Marks (2013), Bad Witch (2018), and Ghosts V and VI (2020).
Won Grammy Awards for "Wish", "Happiness in Slavery", and "As Alive as You Need Me to Be".
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.

Upon release, the album received generally positive reviews from critics, who applauded its influences and production
Some critics called it the band's best work in a decade
Metacritic weighted average of 77 out of 100 from 23 critic scores, generally favorable
AllMusic's Neil Z. Yeung called the album frustrating but also the most cohesive and enveloping experience of this period
The Boston Globe's Terence Cawley gave a positive review, praising the short-and-sweet approach
NME's Tom Connick gave a perfect score, calling it the band's best release in a decade
The Independent's Ilana Kaplan noted its complexity in only thirty minutes, likely received as sensory overload
Q's George Garner called it an excellent reprisal of industrial aggression, saying the band sounded reinvigorated after thirty years
The Atlantic's Spencer Kornhaber felt it does not reach the highs of Broken or The Downward Spiral, but does not dishonor them
Drowned in Sound's Christian Cottingham was more mixed, criticizing reliance on previous Nine Inch Nails sounds and material
Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky wrote that Reznor sounds like he has his eye on the future

Reznor first saw the three planned EPs as one long album in three parts, but later chose to promote Bad Witch as a full album because EPs were often overlooked on streaming sites.
The album's saxophone parts are performed by Reznor, and the record is seen as reminiscent of David Bowie's final album Blackstar.
The closing track Over and Out begins as an upbeat electronic song and ends as a long stretch of white noise.
The instrumental Play the Goddamned Part is described as a discordant, freeform jazz jam amid clashing electronics.
Several critics compared the album to Reznor and Ross's film scores, and some compared it to Reznor's soundtrack for the 1996 video game Quake.