Keep It Together

[BRoswell]

Anyway, this is not a paradigm shift for Trent, but maybe it's time to stop expecting one from him. How many artists have a sound as clearly defined and recognizable as him? If it ain't broke...

That's exactly how I feel.

[wizfan]

I have it on repeat. It slowly grows on me. I, too, like many others, was disappointed at first. I expected some kind of climax or shift in dynamics, something like BAM! But I believe not adding one is kind of the point of the song; evolution on static things or something like that. Trent's loop-based music had started to annoy me a little bit after Dragon Tattoo (the CFITT loops certainly spoiled a lot of the fun), but playing KIT on repeat feels like one big loop. It feels so relaxing. And that's a plus, considering how unsettling the Dragon Tattoo OST was. It certainly isn't one of the most memorable tracks Trent and co. have put out, but doesn't feel as forgettable as the HTDA EP. There is a certain kind of depth to it. I'd like to hear a lossless version.

I totally agree that the added underscores are pretentious, though. Will the EP have brackets as well?

[dominik]

I don't really understand how people hear a similarity to Massive Attack, but whatever.

I like the track, especially the guitars. Unsure about the vocals though.

[talkingnothing]

very happy to hear new stuff from htda. I'm quite enjoying the track, it mingles well with a lot of things i've been listening to lately like 70s eno and some dark ambient electronic stuff. as far as the soundcloud download I'm very pleased about that too. I was beginning to worry if somehow i would have to buy this track 3 times which may have bothered me. I honestly thought it strange that it was going to come out as a paid single just a few weeks before the ep that i'll be paying for.

[wizfan]

I don't really understand how people hear a similarity to Massive Attack, but whatever.

I don't even understand how people compare this with Even Deeper and The Greater Good. What, because it's slow-paced and down-tempo and ambient-y? It's kind of a stretch.

[Magtig]

I think I understand where people are drawing most of their comparisons. The "zap" snare sound is very reminiscent of some of the sounds used on Year Zero, the dark basslines and female vocals are very reminiscent of classic Massive Attack (some of the material of Mezzanine anyway), etc.

That said, after listening to this five or six times I'm really starting to think it's got some of the best of all those things. It's another puzzling choice for a first single, and it's extremely unlikely to get HTDA new fans, but that's not going to stop me from enjoying it. I like that it's so abstract; it's all tension and no release, as others have mentioned, but I think that's a strength in this case.

[jrdsctt]

I don't even understand how people compare this with Even Deeper and The Greater Good. What, because it's slow-paced and down-tempo and ambient-y? It's kind of a stretch.

The beat to the song is what reminded me of The Greater good, and I though the song kinda feels like the end of Even Deeper. I'm don't think it's a bad thing and I am not getting all pissed that it sounds too much like NIN. I'll admit that when I listen to music I know Trent has worked on I can't help but compare it to his other work. Perhaps I should try to refrain from doing this in the future.

[The Reason Being]

I don't understand comparisons to Even Deeper / Greater Good, but I can definitely understand why some people would be reminded of Massive Attack, myself included.

If someone had played this song to me in between a couple of tracks from Heligoland, i'd have been fooled. That said, i'd rather not try to compare this to other stuff, i'm digging it a lot after some good headphone listens.

[hobochic]

Straight from the cookie cutter that brought you hits about fading, seeing right through yourself and disappearing! comes a brand new track containing those same lyrics and concepts! It's new, it's fresh, it's generic cookie cutter music volume 5.

"fade"
"see right through myself"
"disappear"

Seriously?

[dominik]

I don't understand comparisons to Even Deeper / Greater Good, but I can definitely understand why some people would be reminded of Massive Attack, myself included.

If someone had played this song to me in between a couple of tracks from Heligoland, i'd have been fooled. That said, i'd rather not try to compare this to other stuff, i'm digging it a lot after some good headphone listens.

I understand why someone would compare this to Portishead's Third, but Heligoland is just absurd.

[The Reason Being]

I understand why someone would compare this to Portishead's Third, but Heligoland is just absurd.

Really? Fair enough. In my head I was placing it somewhere between Paradise Circus (Vocally) & Flat of The Blade (Musically). Doesn't seem like much of a stretch to me. Anyway sorry this is off topic-ish

[Conrad Lienert]

I absolutely love it!!!

It sounds menacing and calming at the same time. Great song!

[jrdsctt]

The more and more I am listening to it the more I am falling in love with the quiet and subtleness of Mariqueen's vocals. It very soothing blanketed in the dark electronic noises.

[thevoid99]

I like it. It has a bit of NIN in it but with this groove that is just intoxicating and Mariqueen's voice definitely fits in with that sound.

[GoodSoldier333]

I hate singles/singe-song releases/listen-tos because so much is expected and weighed on one song. That said, i expected a bit more than this. And better.

[Highly Psychological]

Im liking it now, very calming, melancholic , hearing the shoegaze band's Seefeel or Slowdive's album Pygmalion big time in this.
Im now thinking its going to be a experimental record. SPACE music.
The soft vocals, the sparseness of it all with electronic fuzzing glitching and the droning's in the background.
Its got the same production sound as Year Zero or NINs later work but i think the track itself sounds very different.

Again a very Bizarre way to promote the band choosing this track. But then again The Day the Whole World went away with that slow video was an odd choice for the first single off the Fragile.
Maybe this is the band saying 'we are not what you expect'?

Zane Lowe i just cannot fucking stand. King Asslicker, Why Trent likes him again perplexes me.

[The Reason Being]

I'm pretty sure Trent just puts up with Zane because he's (probably) the most surefire way to get his projects noticed by most casual british music listeners.

[butter_hole]

King Asslicker, Why Trent likes him again perplexes me.

you answered your own question

[r_z]

I like the song. Not Loving it. Yet.

Let's see, how the Ep/Lp will sound. I'm hoping for more surprises... and dare I say: Better lyrics.


Also:

CFITT

KIT

I hate it, when people do that. Costs me years figuring out which songs were meant.

WHICH SONGS WERE MEANT?

[the duder]

Hilarious to read the reactions to this. "It's TOO much like NIN!" followed by "It's too anti-climatic; where's the climax?" etc. NIN was/is known for their pop sensibilities; why not paint outside of the lines and explore around a bit? Also, WTF - this band consists of not one, but two Reznors. I'm willing to guess that they have similar enough tastes in artistic expression that it would be hard pressed for this to not pang of NIN.

Anyway, glad to have heard this track; look forward to more listens and more material to see how this fits "in context".

[jrdsctt]

I like the song. Not Loving it. Yet.

Let's see, how the Ep/Lp will sound. I'm hoping for more surprises... and dare I say: Better lyrics.


Also:





I hate it, when people do that. Costs me years figuring out which songs were meant.

WHICH SONGS WERE MEANT?

CFITT = Comes Forth In The Thaw
KIT = Keep It Together

[Collin]

What can I say? I am entirely disappointed by "Keep It Together." I like the drum and bass sections at the start, also the eerie piano parts in the first half are great. But, Trent has made better versions of this type of the song in the past (Greater Good, Me Im Not) and the repetitive second half of the song just didn't do much for me. I guess HTDA is becoming an extension of those type of songs, which is fine. I think TSIP, Parasite, ISYLSE? and A Drowning are all solid songs. That said, this certainly isn't worst song he's done, and I'm still plenty excited for the EP and LP. Just hope the other songs are better...

[jessamineny]

Again a very Bizarre way to promote the band choosing this track. But then again The Day the Whole World went away with that slow video was an odd choice for the first single off the Fragile.
Maybe this is the band saying 'we are not what you expect'?

Interesting thought. I bet you're onto something there.

[cashpiles (closed)]

Don't like it. It's a grey blob of boring and Mariqueen's vocals are terrible IMO. (Destroyer remix is pretty cool though)

[sheepdean]

Let's see how many of you are honest: UK download is live

[jessamineny]

Let's see how many of you are honest: UK download is live

What do you mean by honest?

[sheepdean]

I mean paying for the single :P

[jessamineny]

I mean paying for the single :P

What's dishonest about not buying it? The band put it up for free on SoundCloud.

[richardp]

I don't really understand how people hear a similarity to Massive Attack, but whatever.

Because it sounds like it could easily fit on Mezzanine to me?

[witte]

Let's see how many of you are honest: UK download is live

I'm honest: I don't buy it!