Nine Inch Nails - 'Cursed Clock'

In recent years, Nine Inch Nail's Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have mastered the fragile art of ambient sound.  Notably, the duo have contributed to soundtracks for The Social Network and HBO's Watchmen, among other features.  

Now, ambient music can be tricky.  On the one hand, by its very nature, the genre must blend itself within the world or atmosphere it occupies.  On the other, it cannot be so bland that it is dead upon arrival and easily forgotten, even when it is playing (See muzak).  

The opening track from Ghosts VI - Locusts, 'Cursed Clock,' is enriching, yearning, pleading, and splendidly layered.  No sound or note goes wasted.  It is an audial demonstration of the tension between the persistence of time and the human psyche's capacity for monotony, amidst a global pandemic in which the world has come to a halt, while every single day seamlessly melds into the next without demarcation.  (Damn that cursed clock!).  

You can stream the audio to 'Cursed Clock' by Nine Inch Nails in the video player below: