"Came Back Haunted" is a single by American

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubaute ...

band

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the ban ...

, from their eighth studio album, ''

Hesitation Marks ''Hesitation Marks'' is the eighth studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on August 30, 2013, by The Null Corporation and distributed by Columbia Records in the United States and Polydor Records elsewhere. It was ...

''. It was the band's first single after signing with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

Music and lyrics

The song contains layered synthesizer parts, rhythmic industrial patterns, and an

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

bassline, which are interrupted by a guitar-driven instrumental break. The song ends with a vocal outro with a chant of the song's title. Gary Graff of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' interpreted the song's lyrics as an "acknowledgement of Reznor's absence" and a presumable reference to his experiences in film scoring and How to Destroy Angels.

Release and promotion

The song first leaked online on Brazilian website BCharts, then spreading to other sites and radios. It was later streamed on the band's official

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...

account. The audio-only video was also uploaded to Nine Inch Nails'

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

channel. A radio edit of the song was initially made available, which was edited down to 3:56 in length. The song was featured in the soundtrack of the video game ''

Gran Turismo 6 ''Gran Turismo 6'' is a racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the sixth major release and twelfth game overall in the '' Gran Turismo'' video game series. It w ...

''.

Music video

The music video was released on June 28, 2013, with an

epileptic seizure An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or neural oscillation, synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much o ...

warning. It was directed by

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

, with whom Reznor collaborated on '' Lost Highway''. The video runs for 4:17. Photographs taken by Nine Inch Nails collaborator

Rob Sheridan Robert Sheridan (born October 11, 1979) is an American graphic designer, art director, photographer, and comic book author best known for his extensive work with the band Nine Inch Nails. Biography Sheridan attended art school at New York City ...

during the shooting in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

were also released on June 27, 2013.

Personnel

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, whi ...

– vocals, guitar, bass,

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

, percussion, production *

Alessandro Cortini Alessandro Cortini (born 24 May 1976) is an Italian musician best known for being the keyboard, guitar, and bass player in the industrial band Nine Inch Nails. Cortini is also the frontman for the Los Angeles-based electronic- alternative b ...

– additional electronics * Ilan Rubin –

tom drum A tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language. It was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century. Most toms range in size between in diameter, though floor toms can go as ...

Atticus Ross Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross (born 16 January 1968) is an English musician, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. Along with Trent Reznor, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for ''The Social Network'' in 2010. In 2013, th ...

– production *

Alan Moulder Alan Moulder (born 11 June 1959) is an English record producer, mixing engineer, and audio engineer. Early life Moulder was born on 11 June 1959 in Boston, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Boston Grammar School. He had an interest in music ...

– production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control 2013 singles 2013 songs Columbia Records singles Electronica songs Music videos directed by David Lynch Nine Inch Nails songs The Null Corporation singles Song recordings produced by Alan Moulder Song recordings produced by Atticus Ross Song recordings produced by Trent Reznor Songs written by Trent Reznor