David Lynch Directs Nine Inch Nails Video 'Came Back Haunted'

Over the years Trent Reznor has been the benificiary of some of the most memorable music videos created for a rock band. Nine Inch Nails came to the forefront of the '90s rock scene thanks to great songwriting and a violently energetic stage presence, but having a video like the one Mark Romanek made for 'Closer' sure didn't hurt. Reznor was willing to play with the video form, producing long efforts destined to get zero airplay. The 'Happiness in Slavery' video in which performance artist Bob Flanagan (see also the documentary Sick) is torn to pieces is one of the better horror shorts of the decade.

All of which is a long way of saying that Reznor and Nine Inch Nails are no strangers to working with exemplary directors. Reznor reformed the band over the past year, and recently released a new single. 'Came Back Haunted' is a more dance-ready track than much of his work, but it has a great lean sound and much of the signature attitude and atmosphere of classic Nine Inch Nails.

And now it has a video from David Lynch, which you can see below.

While a few NIN videos are narrative, this one is a pretty abstract affair. Just as the song calls back to early NIN sound, the video calls back to Lynch's background as a painter. It reminds me of his early shorts where he was "painting" with moving images. Which means that you're not getting some kind of Nine Inch Nails-scored Blue Velvet deal from this one.

The track is from a forthcoming record called 'Hesitation Marks,' which will be released in September.

If you want some vintage NIN footage, Reznor recently made part of the old 'Closure' VHS release available on Vimeo. Here's the first chunk of it, which is not safe for work due to language.

Nine Inch Nails: "Closure" part one: Self Destruct (1997) from Nine Inch Nails on Vimeo.