The track will appear on the band’s soundtrack album for Tron: Ares
Nine Inch Nails try to grasp something real in a chaotic, pixelated world in the new music video for their recent single, “As Alive As You Need Me to Be.”
The video was directed by Maxime Quoilin, who centers the clip around a close-up performance from Trent Reznor, while using an array of different effects to bend space and warp reality. For all the mesmerizing technical wizardry on display, there’s something distinctly tactile about the look of the video, especially as the tension in the visuals builds alongside the music.
Nine Inch Nails released “As Alive As You Need Me to Be” back in July, with the song set to appear on the soundtrack they created for Tron: Ares. The movie — about humans crossing paths with A.I. beings for the first time — hits theaters Oct. 10, but the soundtrack will arrive a few weeks earlier on Sept. 19.
The Tron: Ares soundtrack and score marks the band’s first new music in five years, following their two 2020 albums, Ghosts V: Together and Ghosts VI: Locusts.
Of course, Reznor and his longtime musical partner Atticus Ross have been plenty busy on a variety of other projects in the meantime. They scored Luca Guadagnino’s two films last year, Queer and Challengers, and they also helmed the music for the director’s upcoming picture, After the Hunt. They also scored the Apple TV+ film The Gorge, which was released earlier this year.
Earlier this summer, Nine Inch Nails launched their Peel It Back Tour, marking the band’s first trek since 2022. The European leg of the tour took place in June and July, while the North American run began in August. It’s set to wrap Sept. 18 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.
