Trent Reznor on Adrian Belew Quitting Nine Inch Nails: "It's Felt Like a Wrench in the Works"

As we reported earlier this month, King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew recently quit Nine Inch Nails, posting the following note via Facebook:

"hey folks, before this goes too far let me say this: I greatly respect trent and the music he makes. no one is at fault. we both agreed it just was not working. I’m sorry to disappoint anyone. that really hurts. but NIN will do an amazing show and I am back where I belong: creating FLUX."

Belew was the second member of NIN to quit in less than a month; bassist Eric Avery announced his departure May 15, saying he felt "overwhelmed" by "the intensity Nails demands."

Speaking recently to CBS, Reznor came clean about the shifting lineup, admitting it had been "disruptive."

"You can spend a lot of time hypothesising, imagining and projecting what it’s gonna be with this chemistry and this recipe of people in a room playing music, and in reality it rarely is that," he said.

"It's felt like a wrench in the works at times, but at the same time it's made me rethink a lot of how we put this together, and I think where we're ending up at is a place that’s much truer to what Nine Inch Nails should be and better in the long run," he added.

The new Nine Inch Nails album, Hesitation Marks, will be released September 3. It was produced by Reznor, Alan Moulder and Atticus Ross. In a statement about the album, Reznor wrote: "I've been less than honest about what I've really been up to lately. For the last year I've been secretly working non-stop with Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder on a new, full-length Nine Inch Nails record, which I am happy to say is finished and frankly fucking great."

Hesitation Marks Track Listing:

• 'The Eater of Dreams'
• 'Copy of A'
• 'Came Back Haunted'
• 'Find My Way'
• 'All Time Low'
• 'Disappointed'
• 'Everything'
• 'Satellite'
• 'Various Methods of Escape'
• 'Running'
• 'I Would for You'
• 'In Two'
• 'While I’m Still Here'
• 'Black Noise'