Less Than

[ZeroSum]

My first impression of this single was that it was pretty good, but worse than everything on NtAE. I felt disappointed to hear something so upbeat and accessible after how dark and grimy the previous EP was.

Now, after listening 50+ times, I think this is almost certainly the best NIN single since Closer. It's a cogent and energetic call to action, and it succeeds in ways that similar songs (THTF, I'm looking at you!) fail. The building intensity in this one feels both subtle and obvious at the same time. It's really impressive. A safe song, to be sure, but it's a really damn good one. It's the type of song that TR could write in his sleep, but he stayed up to work on this one anyway.

Now, will I be disappointed if the rest of the songs on Add Violence are really similar to "Less Than"? Most likely. But I would be disappointed with any NIN album that sounded super homogeneous.

Usually, every album seems to have one song that screams "The Single." Maybe that's just a way we've been conditioned as consumers of music, but that's beside the point. My point is, if this is the song that screams, "hey! I'm the single!" or, "you gotta play this one live!" within the entire project... then it's fulfilling that role extremely well.

[Deepvoid]

Whoever said the mix sounded muddy, I must agree to a certain level.
FLAC sounds good but kinda compressed on my headphones. I'm using Beyerdynamic DT990 pro.
In my car though, it really didn't sound that good. Played it through my Samsung S7. Sounded like a cheap mp3.
Definitely not the crispest mix from NIN.

[Pbgut]

This song took a few listens to grow on me but I'm definitely a fan. I think there's a general attitude that's persisted for a very long time with NIN of kind of dismissing the work — for valid reasons or not. But the lyrics, as restricted as they are in vocabulary, really do speak to the struggles of the human condition in ways that are both extreme and universal, and I don't think this song is an exception to that. Anyone among us who has struggled to survive through depression, abuse, social rejection, feeling like you're never good enough, and is self-aware enough to understand the nature of that struggle can find something in many of Trent's lyrics. They're generally written off as being too full of teenage angst to be serious, but they exist as a counter argument to the nihilism that constantly threatens to swallow many of us (hi, fellow Americans). If they were hyper-specific and extremely personal, it wouldn't speak to a fraction of the people it did or does.

I think the call to Welcome Oblivion and certainly the video definitely suggests the sort of tech dystopia that many of us find ourselves trapped in or at least having to navigate on a daily basis. Did it fix what was wrong with you? We basically have had a technical and intellectual revolution and are returning to a kind of feudalism, all while flirting with total ecological destruction.

The mix does seem a little degraded and odd but I'm assuming that's intentional and is suggestive of being lost in the fog of technology and its narcotizing effects.

That being said, I am definitely completely in love with the sonic experimentation of the golden age of NIN, but I'm not sure if we should expect anything like a brilliant pop hybrid of Coil, hip hop and Prince ever again, because we will never have anything like the 80s and 90s in terms of music again. That was the result of some really rare corporate patronage of popular arts and I think most of that support is being funneled into tech these days.

[InvitingmeAway]

I am interested to see the narrative arc for this EP. I'm seeing a lot of awesome interpretations on here when it comes to the songs meaning. I'm sure once we hear the full EP, all of our interpretations will change since the song will be in a different context.

[simonn]

Whoever said the mix sounded muddy, I must agree to a certain level.
FLAC sounds good but kinda compressed on my headphones. I'm using Beyerdynamic DT990 pro.
In my car though, it really didn't sound that good. Played it through my Samsung S7. Sounded like a cheap mp3.
Definitely not the crispest mix from NIN.

That was me....if the FLAC sounds like that too, it's clearly an artistic choice that has been made, so fair enough...not necessarily my cup of tea from a production standpoint, but, it's not like the song's ruined because of it...!

[Emil Dorbell]

My first impression of this single was that it was pretty good, but worse than everything on NtAE. I felt disappointed to hear something so upbeat and accessible after how dark and grimy the previous EP was.

Now, after listening 50+ times, I think this is almost certainly the best NIN single since Closer.

I had the same experience with this single. It's been growing on me for sure. It felt so obvious on first listen, completely void of any surprises and very accessible, in stark contrast to the more demanding songs of NTAE. But if you can accept this as the pop single that it is, it certainly is a very good one.

[toomanyrifts]

It's like WT but layered like The Fragile..... I love it.

[Jetvet1975]

It's like WT but layered like The Fragile..... I love it.

Yep-totally agree

[HWB]

115 Plays on Google Play.

Goddamit, I felt like it was by numbers at first, I should have known by now that a lot of NIN songs are growers and very rewarding ones, you'd think I would know that by now.

[Helpmeiaminhell (is now in hell)]

not that youtube comments account for much, but a lot of negative feedback on youtube about this song. How its generic NIN 2.0 etc...I thought it was great at first but I am settling into that camp. Does kinda seem like its a standard by the numbers post WT type of single.....I also think the rest of the EP is going to sound nothing like this song based on the interview TR did....

[Detunez]

not that youtube comments account for much, but a lot of negative feedback on youtube about this song. How its generic NIN 2.0 etc...I thought it was great at first but I am settling into that camp. Does kinda seem like its a standard by the numbers post WT type of single.....I also think the rest of the EP is going to sound nothing like this song based on the interview TR did....

I browsed trough a hell of a lot of the youtube comments and i can note that there is a lot of selective reading being done trough the concept of what they call a confimation bias. The vast majority of the comments are pure praise for the song, or pure praise for NiN being back at it again. You have to browse past a huge list of compliments towards NiN or the song to then spot a negative remark.

[Papagolash]

Damn that Trent for making a Nine Inch Nails song that sounds like Nine Inch Nails!

[botley]

If he could do this in an afternoon, wouldn't he be putting them out all the time? He must just HATE us.

[vincenzomilione]

perhaps it was due to my use of both normal and jazz cigarettes, but i'm starting to really enjoy the intricacies of the song that most miss on the first few listens. there's even a rare good guitar solo in there if you're paying attention. the fact that this pop-hit can be just as impenetrable and dense as songs off of NtAE makes me love it even more. i was anxious about AV when the single and not-so-good art/merch dropped, but i've come around on this single and think this ep is still gonna be fantastic.

[Jetvet1975]

Listened to this song about 100 times and I think it actually would be perfect as the new national anthem for North Korea...

[cashpiles (closed)]

theneedledrop rates Less Than as meh, but says NIN fans shouldn't pass it up. He also praises the synth patches.

[Helpmeiaminhell (is now in hell)]

I think its a cool song. Even if its standard NIN, I still dig it more than CBH or Discipline. Has a little more edge to it....

[2020k]

not that youtube comments account for much, but a lot of negative feedback on youtube about this song. How its generic NIN 2.0 etc...I thought it was great at first but I am settling into that camp. Does kinda seem like its a standard by the numbers post WT type of single.....I also think the rest of the EP is going to sound nothing like this song based on the interview TR did....

Rule #1 of the internet: Do not read the YouTube comments.

[captainbeyond]

Last night I was listening to it on Spotify and it happened to play THTF directly after Less Than. Man this is such a better song than THTF! The production and mix is radically different! It's so weird how so much has changed in 12 years. I'm in the camp that has grown very tired of THTF being a live staple. Hell I remember the first time we all got a chance to listen to THTF in 02/2005! I still like the synth solo though.

Less Than is so well-written and more explosive sounding. Definitely even better than Discipline, Survivalism, and CBH. I do love CBH though. Less Than definitely brings me back to that excited feeling that I got from first hearing CBH in 2013 but I feel like Less Than is more of a perfectly crafted weapon.

[ChipRock]

I've given Less Than a couple of listens over the weekend, but actually I've found it caught up in the back of my brain anyway - it may initially sound like generic pop NIN (which is not in itself a bad thing for me), but yeah, you can tell that this has been crafted in a way that perhaps others in that category haven't. I feel like Trent has become a much better song writer in the past few years, and actually he's been really good at mixing things up lately. I loved NTAE for being something really rather different, and of course HM had its moments too (I liked the funky and poppy side of it), but this track is certainly pulling me in with layers and great lyrics and phrasings that make it a fantastically enjoyable and deceptively dense experience. The video is ace as well, and I wish they'd carried over the same imagery into the artwork, but hey, that's about my only complaint. Of course you can't please everyone all of the time, but from what we've heard from Zane Lowe the rest of this EP might continue to surprise, so at least that's not far off for those not enjoying this one.

[acrid avid jam shred]

Less Than is an awesome earworm of a song, loving it more and more as I listen to it! It almost has an anthemic atmosphere, but it's offset brilliantly with the distorted guitars and synths. It's going to be even better live, I reckon.

[simonn]

Last night I was listening to it on Spotify and it happened to play THTF directly after Less Than.

As I was reading this, I was listening to LT on Spotify, and guess what....THTF was the next song....tbh, still one of my fave singles of theirs...taking nothing away from LT...

[Seed_0]

I would like to thank Trent for the great birthday gift. I love the new track, and I hope the rest of the ep is this good.

[Miss.Selfdestruct]

not that youtube comments account for much, but a lot of negative feedback on youtube about this song. How its generic NIN 2.0 etc...I thought it was great at first but I am settling into that camp. Does kinda seem like its a standard by the numbers post WT type of single.....I also think the rest of the EP is going to sound nothing like this song based on the interview TR did....

Haven't read comments, but can see where people are coming from. That said, I dug Less Than immediately. It's good ol' poppy TR.

NTAE ep was all over the place so I'll just wait and see what the rest of AV sounds like.

[cashpiles (closed)]

conjecture: the Less Than that we've been listening to is the single edit. full version on EP.

this song is so close.... so close to hitting it...... just the Less Than lyric in the chorus.... it doesn't hit right.. This is like almost prime NIN.

[snaapz]

Whoever said the mix sounded muddy, I must agree to a certain level.
FLAC sounds good but kinda compressed on my headphones. I'm using Beyerdynamic DT990 pro.
In my car though, it really didn't sound that good. Played it through my Samsung S7. Sounded like a cheap mp3.
Definitely not the crispest mix from NIN.

Yes I've been trying to figure this out myself. I've played the track (using spotify) on a few different headphones and in my car which has a decent upgraded sound system, each time it sounds low quality, where as other tracks do not.

I'm not here to bash the song, I'm just surprised.

The song itself is fucking amazing, well done, love the message, love the sound.

I love the outro and I'm a huge fan of how TR builds up/adds elements every 4-8 bars ; I love his TAMB too -- (2:45 - 3:30)

[eversonpoe]

Yes I've been trying to figure this out myself. I've played the track (using spotify) on a few different headphones and in my car which has a decent upgraded sound system, each time it sounds low quality, where as other tracks do not.

I'm not here to bash the song, I'm just surprised.

The song itself is fucking amazing, well done, love the message, love the sound.

I love the outro and I'm a huge fan of how TR builds up/adds elements every 4-8 bars ; I love his TAMB too -- (2:45 - 3:30)

it doesn't sound low-quality, it sounds intentionally mixed with a rolled off high-end. there's a big difference. if it was low-quality, the low-end would be lacking and the high end would be harsh and filled with artefacting.

[Amaro]

this song is so close.... so close to hitting it...... just the Less Than lyric in the chorus.... it doesn't hit right.. This is like almost prime NIN.

Funny, that's a part I took to since the beginning. It feels different for him, and I think it works. And, call it crazy, but something about the way of that line in particular has made me think of Annie Hardy/Giant Drag?!? I have a sensitive musical memory or something, easily triggered. Don't mind me.

[snaapz]

'This isnt the place' is crystal clear... Just an interesting master for 'Less Than'

[TheRealNs1]

man I can't stop listening to this song. even the video is great.