Nine Inch Nails‘ collaborations with Boys Noize began in 2024 when the German EDM producer remixed Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ Challengers soundtrack, and it blossomed last year when NIN made a short set of songs with Boys Noize a centerpiece of their Peel It Back tour. Now they’re releasing a unique, “purely electronic” full-length Nine Inch Noize album recorded “all over the place – some of it’s live, some in studios, hotels, planes, etc.,” according to Reznor, on Friday. The album is available to pre-save and preorder now.
“The creative fulfillment of working on the Challengers and Tron scores with Boys Noize led me to think that including him in the Peel It Back tour could be an interesting way to express NIN in more purely electronic terms live — a concept I’ve wanted to explore for some time,” Reznor said in a statement. “The result was so much fun for us we felt it was worth expanding and formalizing in some way.
“On a whim, I mentioned it would be cool to play a whole set as Nine Inch Noize in the Sahara tent at Coachella,” he continued. “Careful what you wish for … the next thing I knew we were designing a whole new show to present in the way it deserved.”
The track list for Nine Inch Noize mirrors the set list from Coachella, where Reznor, Ross, Boys Noize (real name: Alexander Ridha), and Reznor’s How to Destroy Angels bandmate (and wife) Mariqueen Maandig performed a selection of Nine Inch Nails songs, an Angels cut, and a cover of Soft Cell’s “Memorabilia.” The cover art features Nine Inch Nails name with “Noize” sprouting off from the last word like a crossword puzzle.
Other than an encore performance at Coachella’s second weekend on Saturday, the collaboration will not be performing again anytime soon. “There’s no surprise tour announcement — this Saturday is it,” Reznor said. “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.”
Rolling Stone praised the “Nine Inch Noize” performance at Coachella this past weekend. “The entire set was composed of beat-augmented remixes of Nine Inch Nails songs, including a brooding, slow-burn take on fan favorites like ‘Copy of A’ and back catalog drops including ‘Me, I’m Not,'” the magazine’s recap reported. “Other highlights included ‘Parasite,’ a song by Reznor and Maandig’s long dormant side project How to Destroy Angels, and ‘Closer,’ the Nine Inch Nails hit so dirty it might make Sabrina Carpenter blush, here reimagined with slapback synths and super-smack snares.”
Nine Inch Noize track list:
1. “Intro” (Nine Inch Noize Version)
2. “Vessel” (Nine Inch Noize Version)
3. “She’s Gone Away” (Nine Inch Noize Version)
4. “Heresy” (Nine Inch Noize Version)
5. “Parasite” (Nine Inch Noize Version)
6. “Copy Of A” (Nine Inch Noize Version)
7. “Me I’m Not” (Nine Inch Noize Version)
8. “Closer” (Nine Inch Noize Version)
9. “The Warning” (Nine Inch Noize Version)
10. “Memorabilia” (Nine Inch Noize Version)
11. “Came Back Haunted” (Nine Inch Noize Version)
12. “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” (Nine Inch Noize Version)
The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr, Bono and Adam Clayton (from left) in 1978 Patrick Brocklebank
Class photo from Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, 1978. Bono is in the front row, third from left; his future wife, then Ali Stewart, is to his left. The Edge is in the back row, center, in jacket and tie. Courtesy of U2
U2 in Berlin circa Achtung Baby Anton Corbijn
Anton Corbijn
Bono, the Edge, and Clayton perform at the Sphere in Las Vegas in 2023, with Bram van den Berg filling in for Mullen on drums Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
U2 shooting the “Street of Dreams” video in Mexico City in May Eloisa Sanchez
Michael Schwartz
Did ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ Need an Encore? And Where Is Taylor Swift Going Next?
Taylor Swift has always loved a story. It’s what has set her songwriting apart for 20 years now — and what she has used to maintain her almighty superstar status. Both in her work and in the presentation of it, Swift has woven strong narratives of heartbreak, success, redemption, torture, and glory where all of the pieces fall into place and it’s easy to root for her.
With her latest album, The Life of the Showgirl, Swift presented a sequined tale of triumph. Finally, finally, the girl who spent her whole life trying to put the feeling of love into words had changed the prophecy by getting engaged (and now married) to Travis Kelce. Professionally, Swift was at her peak, too. She’d just bought back her masters with the earnings from her historic Eras Tour, an all-encompassing career feat that inspired the project.
But there’s no debating that the musician’s 12th album was her most polarizing yet (yes, even more than the 2017 LP, Reputation). Some critics and fans alike didn’t appreciate the execution of the “showgirl” idea sonically or thematically. But hate it or love it, Showgirl was the perfect way for Swift to revel in her success — and set the stage for her next show-stopping move.
That’s why it’s so confusing that the expert storyteller decided the show wasn’t over when she released The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore with four bonus tracks. One of the strongest elements of the original album was that Swift delivered a tight 12, and only 12, songs. “There’s not a 13th, there’s not other ones coming,” she said last year. “Every single song is on this album for hundreds of reasons, you know, and you couldn’t take one out and it’d be the same album. You couldn’t add one. It’s just right.”
Now, there is suddenly more to the story with the addition of “Patient Zero,” “Cleveland!” “Pink Clouding,” and “Babylon.” Unfortunately, as many fans have pointed out, none of the songs add to the narrative set forth in Showgirl.
Swift said she wrote the bonus tracks last year following the success of the album. “We just wanted to reflect and take in how grateful we were for the moment we were in,” she said, referring to the project’s collaborators, Max Martin and Shellback. That moment found Swift newly engaged, yet her lead single back, “Patient Zero,” looks back at a past relationship. “Pink Clouding” also reflects on a former flame, but without the regretful yearning that made “Ruin the Friendship” a standout. Meanwhile, “Cleveland!” takes the gushing over-the-heels joy from “Honey” and “Wood” and adds an almost spiteful twist. And then there is the new curtain-closer, “Babylon” where Swift hands out more pearls of wisdom over an acoustic cut that would fit better on Folklore or Evermore. In fact, all four songs sound like they were plucked from previous albums like Midnights or The Tortured Poets Department. With these four tracks, she has not only confused the story of Showgirl, she’s also muddled that of Taylor Swift™.
Swift is a known mastermind, who has planned her next career move years in advance, and she’s been celebrated for her expert marketing power moves. But where does the showgirl go from here? The Encore has unleashed more questions about Swift’s next chapter rather than offer a clear path forward.
On Sunday, Swift premiered the cinematic music video for “Patient Zero” at the 2026 MTV VMAs. It’s a chilling thriller, and one of her most impressive visuals to date. Was that the point of it all, to highlight her full-throttle pivot to film? We know that the musician has a directorial debut on the way with Searchlight Pictures. Maybe she finally found the time to finish it, and that’s why she worked on the Toy Story 5 soundtrack.
The Encore could also just be a way for Swift to get her 12th album back into the conversation, just in time for the first round of voting for the 2027 Grammys. One would expect the singer-songwriter to submit the project for all of the major categories, including the coveted Album of the Year and Song of the Year. It’s unclear whether Swift will submit both “The Fate of Ophelia,” which became Swift’s longest-running Number One song atop the Billboard Hot and her new shining single “I Knew It, I Knew You” for Song of the Year — the songwriting-focused Grammy she has yet to win.
Swift has spent the last six months riding on the high of “I Knew It, I Knew You.” The song dominated on country radio — and led the musician to drop a ton of Easter eggs hinting at her big return to the genre. She could honor her songwriting legacy with a country music return timed to the 20th anniversary of her debut in October. Now that would be a great story.