Nine Inch Nails returned with their first new single in five years, mid July. Now they have released the glitch ridden accompanying video for ‘Alive As You Need Me To Be’ – a cut from the upcoming Tron: Ares soundtrack.
Directed by Maxime Quoilin, the video leans hard into body horror aesthetics. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are caught in stark close ups, their images warped by digital decay as hands claw through walls to drag Reznor into the void. It’s a bleak visual metaphor that seems to echo the film’s story of AI breaking free from the grid and bleeding into the real world.
Check it out below:
The Return Of NIN
The track marks the first release under the Nine Inch Nails name since 2020. In an interview with Empire, Reznor recalled how the project came about after Disney execs tapped the duo following their Oscar-winning work on Pixar’s Soul.
“Do you think you guys would be interested in scoring Tron? He didn’t even finish the sentence – I was like, f**k yes,” Reznor said. “He asked if we’d want it credited as Nine Inch Nails instead of Trent and Atticus. We weren’t expecting that.”
While Daft Punk’s Tron: Legacy score (2010) has become iconic in its own right, Reznor made it clear their approach won’t be a retread. “There’s not one second of orchestra in our score,” he revealed. “It sounds precise and unpleasant at times… The concept of artificial life with emotions, questioning their purpose and their replaceability – we riffed on that.”
From Daft Punk to NIN
It’s a bold move, handing the sequel’s sonic identity to a band whose very DNA is built on tension and unease. Daft Punk gave Legacy its neon heartbeat; Nine Inch Nails are primed to drag Ares into darker, more unsettling territory.
Tron: Ares lands in cinemas October 10, with the soundtrack set to drop earlier on September 19. The film stars Jared Leto, Jeff Bridges, Evan Peters, Greta Lee and more.
