LYRICS
ECHOPLEX

nice and high and far apart
just like they said
i built this place with broken parts
just like they said
you chip away the old version of you
you'd be surprised at what you can do
i'm safe in here  
irrelevant  
just like they said

my voice just echoes off these walls

you feel me breathe 
i am watching you
i see it all
the many ways you can't get to me
i see it all
i see the hell you put yourself through
oh the things i could do (if i wanted to)

my voice just echoes off these walls
my voice just echoes off these walls
i don't need anything at all
my voice just echoes off these walls 

and i just slowly fade away

you will never ever get to me in here

------------

Please keep this on topic. KTHXBYE. Wild speculation goes here

download - as before, id3 tag says, "Go to www.nin.com May 5"

From here, seen in the NIN facebook app (courtesy of maybeedeluxe)

hooray

I believe I like "Echoplex" more than "Discipline".

I don't like the obviousness that its a drum machine. if it were a machine that produced more realistic sounds, that would've been cool. as of right now, I am not a fan of "Echoplex". "Discipline" is okay. we'll see when May 5th arrives, no?

This is what I get for going shopping in Buffalo today. I AM THE LAST TO KNOW EVERYTHING!!!

Can't wait to hear how these songs all come together, interesting sound.

Nice and high and far apart
Just like they said
I built this place with broken parts
Just like they said
You chip away the old version of you
You'd be surprised at what you can do
I'm safe in here and will ____
Just like they said

My voice just echoes off these walls
My voice just echoes off these walls

You feel me breathe, I am watching you
I see it all
The many ways you can get to me
I see them all
I see the hell you put yourself through
All the things I could do if I wanted to

My voice just echoes off these walls
My voice just echoes off these walls
I don't need anything at all
My voice just echoes off these walls

I just slowly fade away
Fade

You will never, ever, ever, ever get to me in here.

I'm still letting it sink in, but I dig it. I can't tell if I like it more than Discipline because I just do, or if it's because it's newer than Discipline to me. I'm excited to hear all of these tracks in their proper context, so roll on May 5th!

theres no way in hell these are from YZ 2

I REALLY hope whatever he releases in 2 days gets more obnoxious than these 2.

plus I've given up on analyzing all those squares until the 5th.

I like this track a LOT more then Discipline. I only hope that the rest of the supposed EP/album is as good or better then this.

Yes, this does not seem to be Year Zero Part 2, but I am still very excited for this release. It would seem Trent's going for a more minimalistic approach this time around, and I'm really liking it. In any case, he's reinventing how to get music out to the masses, and I'm loving every minute of it.

FUCK THE FUCK YEAH!!!! Where did this track come from? did i miss yet another nin.com update?

one day away from ets and i feel like it's christmas when i come back

echoplex's lengthy ending reminds me of fragile song structures... i fucking love it

EDIT: VV probably VV

Discipline is definitely an assault on your auditory senses and packs more energy, but Echoplex has a much more laid back ambiance that I really dig too. That's what I love about NIN, the duality of their ability to be totally harsh and distorted and intermingle it with something completely beautiful and haunting.

Discipline reminds me of something off of With Teeth, with the accessibility and how catchy it can be. They're both minimalistic, yet have a totally different emotional appeal, in their own right. I like the melodic variety that NIN always offers, so I'm definitely looking forward to the new EP/Album this Monday!

both songs are fucking awesome... my only complaint, however, is they are pretty minimal. i want layers and layers. there are still new sounds i find myself hearing when i listen to the fragile. but once again, in no way am i knocking these new tracks. they are awesome and may 5th can't come soon enough. what a great time to be a fan.

exactly. take a look at the headlining list for the upcoming tour. never heard of any of them before. but i kinda like "does it offend you..."

Wswait what? I'm drunk from having a cinco de mayo party... what??!?!??!? New NIN??? For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen yes!

It's very fragile-esque. Thats exciting to me.
May 5th is going to be a VERY interesting day.

Not too excited about this one.

Trent needs to spend more time intricately making musical masterpieces instead of releasing songs every week because these recent ones have zero value and won't stand the test of time compared to his past works.

if these songs are from the YZ series i think it's safe to say May 5th will be the release of Year 1986, a prelude, if you will, to Year Zero. YZ2 will follow some time in '09.

nonetheless, these new tracks still rock.

This is more or less precisely how I feel. I really enjoy "Discipline." Seriously, I am enthralled by it--either despite or because of its poppiness I revel in it and, in less than one week, it quickly surpassed every other contender (of 3,700 songs) in my iTunes for Most Played. While I just discovered "Echoplex" (I work at a Mexican restaurant and, thus, have been catering to fat white people all evening for Cinco de Mayo--a holiday Mexicans barely celebrate) and thus, cannot render fair judgment upon it, I think I know how I'll feel in the end. Right now--and I assume also well into the future--I find myself smitten by it.

But in the end, I expect I will be somewhat disappointed by the stamina/ longevity of both tracks. I can listen to Broken or The Downward Spiral sixteen or fourteen years hence, respectively, and still find something new in each. They have always and will always fascinate me because they are so complex--"layer[ed] and layer[ed]," as said by The_Great_Destroyer.

And though I loved With Teeth and greatly savored Year Zero, I already know that neither have the replayability of the aforementioned two discs. Both of TR's later albums have moments in which I am aware of deep complexity, subtlety and richness ("Right Where It Belongs," "Only," "Survivalism," "The Warning," "Another Version of the Truth"), but they can't compare to the almost-idefatigable Downward Spiral or Fragile. More to the point, I feel I already know this of "Discipline" and "Echoplex." (Ghosts I-IV, I rest assured, will stand the test of time with aplomb.)

BUT

This means nothing about my relative ability to enjoy either of Nine Inch Nails' new tracks. In fact, I find myself crazed by both. "Echoplex" seems more lyrically mature than its immediate predecessor. It is definitely more lyrically ambiguous and, I admit, I find myself confounded by its content at first (I'm on half-a-dozen listens). This, however, is good for a song (in my book): it means it's comprised of something worth paying attention to.

"Echoplex" is also less immediately poppy which, in the long run, usually helps a song stand up for me. And, to contradict Mcpancakes (WOW: that may have been the most ridiculously absurd thing I've ever said), I truly enjoy the entirely unapologetic drum machine. Synthetic instrumentation, sometimes, is far superior to real-life strings and skins. (Unless one assumes such a thing is an affront to the natural order and/or god which, obviously, makes one an idiot.) The rather visceral guitar/ bass make an intriguing counterpoint to the very artificial percussion. I'm not, at the moment, thrilled with the "outro." Presently, I find it a bit dull, but I expect I might soon unearth some hidden complexity.

Regardless, I think both tracks are worthy additions to the Nine Inch Nails oeuvre. "Echoplex," in fact, probably even falls into the top fifty percent of things TR's released. And after all is said and done, I am so pleased by both tracks that I will spend hard-earned cash on the disc/ download. And after all is said and done, isn't that what matters?