Nine Inch Nails has teamed up with Californian rock band Health on a new song, “Isn’t Everyone.” In an interview with Webworm With David Farrier, singer/guitarist Jake Duzik commented on the origin of the song and mentality behind the lyrics.
“I think at the time it was written [‘in the middle of the lockdown’] — part of the reason we wanted it to come out so quickly, is that being an American in America, we were in the middle of Trumpocolypse and George Floyd and so there is some pretty poignant messaging relating to that specific experience. And my side of the lyrics are a little more abstract, which is kind of the way I write. There is a little bit of a ying and a yang. We are very proud of how it came out.”
Bassit John Famiglietti added:
“And we are not trying to write a single or anything. It’s longer. It’s got all these great parts. It’s really good.”
Apparently, Health met Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor during a 2008 summer tour and since then maintained a close relationship. “Isn’t Everyone” started when the band had the idea of releasing an album of collaborations, rather than remixes, and sent Reznor a track they were working on. In typical fashion, Reznor responded with “Oh, shit” and got to work with Nine Inch Nails counterpart, Atticus Ross on the track.
“They take everything they do very seriously so it was very deliberate, with a lot of attention to detail,” Duzsik said.
What blew Duzsik’s mind, though, was that Reznor suggested they sing together.
“Just for me personally, I want to hear [Reznor’s] voice in the song, not my voice. I don’t think of myself as being a terribly untalented musician or anything, but it’s kind of that line of — and this kind of music — the immediacy of the voice is what really emotionally moves people. There’s a reason why certain people’s voices touch people. It’s an emotional response.”
Check out “Isn’t Everyone” below!
