Trent Reznor often seems more robot than man, like he plugs in and charges up each night instead of sleeping. Luckily, his musical output has proven reliably alive. Following Nine Inch Nails’ consistent excellence and stellar work scoring David Fincher’s The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo comes the debut HTDA album, an impressively powerful affair. Despite boasting such a dominant frontman, his wife and co-vocalist Mariqueen Maandig’s harmonious vocals rule here, adding something softer to the digitised beats of ‘On The Wing’ and ‘Keep It Together’. Only the overlong ‘Ice Age’ disappoints on a solid, often stunning record.
David Renshaw