Danny Elfman and Trent Reznor Take a Dip in a Cyanide Bath on New Version of ‘Native Intelligence’

Trent Reznor linked back up with Danny Elfman to help the famed composer/songwriter recreate a second song from his 2021 album, Big Mess, “Native Intelligence.” 

Elfman’s original version of “Native Intelligence” already had some heavy industrial crunch to it, making it a perfect fit for Reznor. The new version boasts some additional instrumentation, but the difference largely comes from Reznor’s lead vocals as he howls the eerie refrain, “Trust me, children, trust me, baby/Taking a bath in cyanide, taking a bath.”

Reznor and Elfman’s remake of “Native Intelligence” follows their collaborative remix of “True,” which arrived back in August. Along with Reznor, Elfman has released remixes of his Big Mess tracks with artists such as Xiu Xiu, Death Grips drummer/producer Zach Hill, and Squarepusher. All of these remixes and more are available on a new deluxe vinyl box set of Big Mess, which is limited to just 1,500 copies. 

Big Mess, which arrived last June, marked Elfman’s first solo record in 37 years. Next month, he’ll get to perform songs from the album live for the first time at Coachella, where he’s set to debut a new show, Danny Elfman: From Boingo to Batman to Big Mess and Beyond! The career-spanning set will find Elfman also performing Oingo Boingo songs for the first time since 1995, as well as other pieces from throughout his career as a songwriter and composer.