In 2009, Trent Reznor informed the United States that a series of summer gigs would be his last ever on American stages. That, coupled with his recent marriage to comely former West Indian Girl member Mariqueen Maandig, led to some online conjecture that perhaps Reznor's Nine Inch Nails was kaput ... that the band was finished. But Trent never uttered a single word about NIN never recording again.

Just before the holidays, Reznor took to his on-again, off-again Twitter page to break the news that 2010 would bring with it new Nine Inch Nails music, as well as some other project that isn't NIN. "2010 has a number of things planned including new material from Nine Inch Nails and something else that isn't Nine Inch Nails," Reznor wrote. "I am in a state of rediscovery and reinvention that feels unfamiliar, unsure and exactly what I need." That Twitter post has since been removed.

The new record will follow 2008's 'The Slip' and 'Ghosts I-IV.' In 2009, Reznor released just two tracks as part of the NINJA 2009 Tour Sampler EP, which preceded the band's run with Jane's Addiction.

Fans have already started speculating about what this other non-NIN project could be. The most reasonable theory offered involved synth-rock pioneer Gary Numan, responsible for the infectious 1979 hit 'Cars.' Numan has said he'd be open to a collaboration with Reznor, after the pair performed together during Nine Inch Nails' final concerts. Numan joined the band on stage in Los Angeles to tackle 'Cars' and 'Metal,' with Reznor calling the man "vitally important and a huge inspiration."

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