Check out Nine Inch Nails’ retro-futuristic new single ‘As Alive As You Need Me To Be’ from ‘Tron: Ares’ soundtrack

Nine Inch Nails have released the first single from their soundtrack album for Tron: Ares – listen to ‘As Alive As You Need Me To Be’ below.

• READ MORE: Nine Inch Nails live at Mad Cool 2025: a blistering masterclass in how to headline a festival

The song comes on the day that the trailer for the film was also released, with the sci-fi sequel set to feature the first ever film score from the legendary band – although Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have had great success in the field under their own names.

‘Tron: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)’ will be released on September 19 via Interscope Records – pre-order/pre-save it here – while the film itself will hit cinemas on October 10.

‘As Alive As You Need Me To Be’ has a retro-futuristic hard edge to it, with tight electronic percussion and paranoid lyrics such as “Give me something to believe in / All these hands have got a hold on me”. Watch the lyric video for the track below, as well as the film’s trailer.

Reznor and Ross have worked on 20 film scores together and have won two Oscars – for their work on The Social Network and Soul. Their recent collaborations with director Luca Guadagnino have also won critical acclaim, with Challengers picking them up a Golden Globe Award.

Tron: Ares is the sequel to 2010’s Tron: Legacy – which included a score from Daft Punk – and the third film in Disney’s Tron franchise, and it will follow a “highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings,” according to a press release.

Directed by Joachim Rønning, Tron: Ares will star Jared Leto and Greta Lee, alongside Evan Peters and Jeff Bridges.

Nine Inch Nails recently completed the UK leg of their mammoth ‘Peel It Back’ tour, their first live shows since 2022. The performances were split across two stages, with the main stage seeing them perform their biggest hits and the smaller platform in the middle of the audience used to deliver deep cuts, acoustic renditions and remixes. Check out photos from the shows here.

NME also caught their headline set at Mad Cool Festival in Madrid, writing: “Judging by their Mad Cool headline set, there is no question that the group won’t be meticulously maintaining their legacy over the next few decades. From the exquisite visuals (which, even in their calmest moments, still blow some of the biggest names out of the water) to their effortless on-stage rapport and the sheer quality of their live sound, this sensational outing is vintage Nails. Welcome back, guys. We’ve missed you.”

The band’s members have suggested that new music may be on the way. In December 2024, Reznor said that the band were “back in the driver’s seat” when it came to writing new material. The release could mark NIN’s first studio album since 2018’s ‘Bad Witch’, and the surprise 2020 ambient double album ‘Ghosts V-VI’.

Elsewhere Reznor and Ross have also announced details of Future Ruins, a festival designed to celebrate film and television composers. On the line-up are Danny Elfman, John Carpenter, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Cristobal Tapia de Veer, Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, as well as Reznor and Ross.

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