God Break Down the Door

"God Break Down the Door" was announced and released as the lead single and fourth track to Bad Witch on May 17, 2018.[2] The song premiered on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show on Apple Music.[3]

Reznor explained the song originated from his desire to "get his technique back" on playing the saxophone, which he had sporadically played for 20 years.[4] In addition to the saxophone, the song prominently features acid house breakbeats[5] and what is described as a "frantic drumbeat",[3] and has been described by critics as jazz fusion,[6] electro-jazz,[4] and trip hop.[7]

Reznor described the writing of the song, stating

"Looking around the studio and seeing the untouched baritone tenor and alto sax that are sitting there ... they're there because they remind me that I can't play them as well as I used to be able to. There they sit taunting me in the corner. We pulled them out and we just started fucking around really, led with Atticus arranging. I was just kind of going, an hour performance kind of turned into this thing that felt like we hadn't been there before and that started to reveal a whole different character. The space changed and then we felt motivated. When it came time to sing I was really just trying things out, just to see. I never had the courage to sing like that, I didn't know I could sing."[4]

Pitchfork named the song "Best New Track", comparing it to the works of Outside-era David Bowie, stating: "While the reference points are immediately obvious, the impact of 'God Break Down the Door' is in just how different it sounds for Reznor. And it's not only his voice. There's a new energy in the arrangement: a constantly shifting thing full of frenzied marimba and apocalyptic squelches that zaps the throwback crunch of the last two NIN EPs into dust."[5]

• Trent Reznor – vocals, saxophone, production
• Atticus Ross – performance, production