Having recently wrapped up their Peel It Back Tour (2025-2026) and playing the Sahara stage at Coachella 2026, Nine Inch Nails have an energy burning through them akin to Trent Reznor’s 90s flame. More self-assured and sharp, yet still raging and raw like it’s 1994; Reznor and Atticus Ross’ current iteration of the industrial-rock band is a testament to their ability of evolving and reinvention. Through collaborating with NIN on Luca Guadagnino’s 2024 Challengers (mixed) score and producing 3 remixes of songs from their soundtrack album for Joachim Rønning’s TRON: Ares (2025), electronic producer Boys Noize has seen himself become a third pillar to Nine Inch Nails’ current form. Despite not being an official member of the band, Iraqi-German producer Boys Noize (born Alexander Ridha) has not only contributed to NIN’s present direction of sound, but also opened for the band during the Peel It Back Tour (even appearing on-stage for a section of NIN’s set). Now as Nine Inch Nails and Boys Noize merge, forming Nine Inch Noize, the group has crafted a body of work which is – if you can believe it – somewhat louder, harsher and more distorted than anything NIN have released before.
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Nine Inch Noize’s self-titled debut album released on 17 April 2026 and is produced by the band, with additional engineering by Jacob Moreno. Nine Inch Noize was announced 1 week prior to its release on their designated Coachella artist billboard. A 12 song collection, the Nine Inch Noize Versions mix various selections from Nine Inch Nails’ past discography and 1 song from Reznor and Ross’ other band, How To Destroy Angels. Boys Noize’s contributions are evident throughout due to his signature techno and electronic-house EDM production style which feels clean-cut yet dirty and heavily distorted. With his 2007 debut album, Oi Oi Oi, Boys Noize’s craft is similar to NIN’s with his genre-blending abilities. It’s never just EDM – just as it’s never only been industrial and rock with NIN.
For nearly 4 decades Nine Inch Nails has released music of the most melodic and industrial sound. Many articles echo details of the phases NIN founder and frontman Trent Reznor has moved through: NIN’s 1989 Ministry-esque debut record, Pretty Hate Machine; bridging of past and future sound through 1992’s Broken EP; industrial excellence on the 1994 concept album, The Downward Spiral; to the innovative double-album, The Fragile (1999). Deep diving into the various iterations of Nine Inch Nails would form an essay-length piece because of the never-ending changes and pivots of the band’s sound. Post Hesitation Marks (2013) saw Reznor’s frequent collaborator, Atticus Ross, join NIN in 2016 as the second official member. Both Reznor and Ross had previously joined forces in How To Destroy Angels and as film scoring partners, beginning with David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010), which saw them win an Academy Award for Best Original Score. From With Teeth (2005) and Year Zero (2007), to the Not The Actual Events (2016) EP and Bad Witch (2018) – Nine Inch Nails have always stood out for their never-ending reinvention, now going EDM with Boys Noize. Nine Inch Noize’s debut 2026 Coachella performances mirrored the Peel It Back Tour’s B-Stage set-up, which saw NIN and Boys Noize play live versions of their collaborative remixes. With West Indian Girl frontwoman Mariqueen Maandig Reznor singing backing vocals throughout the beginning and end parts of the Coachella performances, their crowds looked more alive and hyper than some of the festival headliner acts.
Nine Inch Noize opens with the instrumental ‘Intro’, featuring live crowd cheering, with the track bleeding into the studio mix of ‘Vessel (Nine Inch Noize Version)’. Compared to Year Zero’s original, the new mix of ‘Vessel’ is a techno-laced earworm. Because both of the Nine Inch Noize Coachella setlists were the album played in its entirety, the live performance of ‘Vessel’ is goosebump inducing, with Nine Inch Noize’s Trent Reznor standing by Mariqueen Maandig’s side. With blank expressions, the couple hardly move throughout the performance, and you can feel the eeriness of having a political song about psychoactive drugs and military mind-control into an EDM anthem. Essentially, the song introduces the record’s sensation of ‘aggressive electronic music for dystopian times’. On ‘She’s Gone Away (Nine Inch Noize Version)’, Boys Noize interpolated production stems from his and Rico Nasty’s 2010 song ‘Girl Crush’. Nine Inch Noize, being an amalgamation of pre-existing songs, wouldn’t feel complete without Boys Noize’s own discography being threaded throughout. The album’s version of The Downward Spiral’s ‘Heresy’ is louder than loud. Reznor’s more political lyrics continue to resonate in 2026. If anything, the harshness of the new mix feels more furious than the original 1994 release, and it’s obvious Nine Inch Noize read the room and figured we’re all currently in need of music for raging.
Nine Inch Noize’ choice to release a soaring techno version of How To Destroy Angels’ ‘Parasite’ comes as no surprise due to HTDA not only being Reznor and Ross’ other band, but because the band also consists of Mariqueen Maandig on vocals. Nine Inch Noize is a true celebration and selection of Nine Inch Nails’ entire discography, and not including HTDA would’ve been a loss. ‘Parasite’, already aggressive and ruthless in its glitchy production, is reborn here with techno clanks and guitar fuzz – a perfect blending of the industrial and dance sound expected of the band.
‘Copy of a (Nine Inch Noize Version)’ begins with glitches which sound reminiscent of The Fragile’s production, as if a prior version of NIN is attempting to break through. The song’s original vocal looping remains, yet halfway through the new version, the Boys Noize effect kicks in with an ascending tempo and urgency. ‘Me, I’m not’ from the politically charged concept album Year Zero is a surprising choice for the album’s tracklist, considering Year Zero’s songs aren’t often on NIN’s setlists. The Nine Inch Noize version of the song turns what is considerably a slow and eerily atmospheric tune with glitches and distortion into a thumper with a club beat. Then, the Nine Inch Noize version of The Downward Spiral’s 1994 breakthrough hit single, ‘Closer’ elevates the song by creating what could only be described as a techno-industrial banger, which feels like it belongs in the blood-rave scene in the 1998 film, Blade. When Nine Inch Nails and Boys Noize performed this new version during both Coachella sets, you couldn’t help thinking of Nine Inch Nails’ legendary 1994 Woodstock performance: mud-drenched, angry and crazed. ‘Closer’ has always been a fan-favourite, as reflected within the song’s 395 million Spotify streaming numbers alone.
‘The Warning (Nine Inch Noize Version)’ contains the original song’s sense of alarm, yet – like all songs on Nine Inch Noize – its final minute of Reznor repeating “your time is tick-tick-ticking away,” induces a higher sense of anxiety. On one hand, you feel like dancing; on the other, you can’t ignore the song’s meaning of something ominous and menacing lurking around in the sky. A deeper selection from Nine Inch Noize’s tracklist is the NIN’s 1994 cover of Soft Cell’s ‘Memorabilia’ which was featured as a B-side on the single, ‘Closer To God’. Another interesting deep-cut choice for the album, ‘Memorabilia’ was originally released as Soft Cell’s B-side for their iconic synth-pop cover of ‘Tainted Love’. From such a wide discography, it’s great seeing Nine Inch Noize make such left-field choices.
‘Came Back Haunted’ marks the second appearance of NIN’s 8th album, Hesitation Marks, on Nine Inch Noize. The track, which has odd drum-loops and a creepy spirit, still holds true on this new version. “Everywhere now reminding me I am not who I used to be,” Reznor now sings through wailing screeches of synth. ‘As Alive As You Need Me To Be’ from NIN’s 2025 TRON: Ares soundtrack closes Nine Inch Noize; a perfect note to end on, both because the track is from their most recent record, and because it’s already a befitting electronic number. It’s the one song on this album that remains most similar to its original version, which ends the album on the current form of the band’s artistic output.
After the second Nine Inch Noize Coachella set, Reznor and Ross intend on heading back to the studio to work on new NIN music. In a press release, Reznor stated that “there’s no surprise tour announcement – [Coachella] is it. I’m taking Sunday off and excited to be working on new Nine Inch Nails music Monday – I’ll see you when I come up for air.”
Regardless of when we’ll eventually hear it, Nine Inch Noize is more than enough to energise and uplift us until the next NIN chapter arrives. This album proves it doesn’t matter if you’re a rock or electronic dance fan; there is always a middle ground to bring music lovers together. This is what NIN and Boys Noize have accomplished: community and togetherness. At a rave, a rock concert, a festival, a house party – Nine Inch Noize promises to push listeners out of their comfort zone, getting you to sweat out whatever frustrations you face. Trust in industrial techno to help free yourself when the state of the world feels isolating, cruel and frightening.
