Piercing Through The Silence

How To Destroy Angels “The Believers”

You don’t need to hear Trent Reznor’s voice to know that you’re listening to his music. Over the years, he has developed a particular combination of rhythms, textures, melodic cadences, and tones that mark all of his work. I don’t have the technical background to explain it, but the man certainly has a distinct palette. “The Believers,” a song written with his wife Mariqueen Maandig and his regular collaborator Atticus Ross, take the familiar elements of his music and nudge them just beyond his comfort zone. This composition isn’t far off from much of Year Zero, but its layers of rhythm and electronic noise are tighter, while also a bit more relaxed in terms of mood. There’s a violence and tension to the piece, but it’s essentially calm, almost glassy-eyed. Maandig’s phrasing is almost exactly the same as Reznor in whispery mode, but the simple fact of her femininity softens the tone, and lends the music a sexuality that is different from Reznor’s usual brooding dude vibe. It’s a nice twist on a good formula.

Get it for free — or buy it — from the How to Destroy Angels site.