(Above: All of Hesitation Marks-art for each format.)
The long half-decade wait is over. Hesitation Marks, Nine Inch Nails' eighth studio album (28th halo, for those nitpickers) is streamable on iTunes (make sure to open the artist page) one full week before the release. Previous singles and live streams have only intensified the prolonged wait, with "Came Back Haunted" leading the charge with a David Lynch-directed video that is sure to stick in the minds of many for years to come.
Leading back to the band's (actually Trent Reznor's) announcement of a new studio album and a new tour (with a few changes along the way), the Hesitation Marks-era is off with a bang. Early festival shows with a distinct Talking Heads/Stop Making Sense-influence with monitors of artistic genius flickering and shading the whole stage. Screw the typical lighting - NIN sought the most visual experience you can have while watching a band play music, achieving this at an abnormally successful rate. Just go and watch their masterful Lollapalooza set, blending the past, present, and future together seamlessly.
Nine Inch Nails, one of the most memorable bands in all of the past three decades - unique, influential, important - is back. And better than ever. Stream it. [Consequence of Sound]