Nine Inch Nails Return With First New Single In Five Years, ‘As Alive As You Need Me To Be,’ From ‘TRON: Ares’ Soundtrack

Nine Inch Nails has released their first new single in five years, “As Alive As You Need Me To Be,” a track featured on the highly anticipated soundtrack for TRON: Ares. The third installment in the sci-fi film series is set to debut on September 19, with its soundtrack arriving via Interscope Records. You can listen to it down below.

While Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have become highly respected and acclaimed film composers in their own right, boasting an impressive catalog of 20 scores and numerous accolades including two Oscars, three Golden Globes, a GRAMMY, and an Emmy, TRON: Ares marks a significant milestone: it is the very first film score composed under the Nine Inch Nails moniker.

A press statement regarding the soundtrack promises a departure from traditional orchestral scores, noting that the album “erupts with the full force of Nine Inch Nails, breaking boundaries and redefining what a score can be,” emphasizing that there is “not one second of orchestra.”

The full tracklist for Nine Inch Nails’ TRON: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) includes:

1. “Init“
2. “Forked Reality“
3. “As Alive As You Need Me To Be“
4. “Echoes“
5. “This Changes Everything“
6. “In The Image Of“
7. “I Know You Can Feel It“
8. “Permanence“
9. “Infiltrator“
10. “100% Expendable“
11. “Still Remains“
12. “Who Wants To Live Forever?“
13. “Building Better Worlds“
14. “Target Identified“
15. “Daemonize“
16. “Empathetic Response“
17. “What Have You Done?“
18. “A Question Of Trust“
19. “Ghost In The Machine“
20. “No Going Back“
21. “Nemsis“
22. “New Directive“
23. “Out In The World“
24. “Shadow Over Me“

Nine Inch Nails is also preparing to kick off the North American leg of their acclaimed “Peel It Back” world tour on August 6 at the Oakland Arena in California. The tour has already garnered significant praise, with Louder reviewing the band’s third date at London’s O2 Arena and noting a sense of reinvention. “A few years back, when Trent Reznor admitted that he had no burning desire to reconvene Nine Inch Nails as a touring band, his weariness seemed underwritten by an awareness that NIN could not return to the stage without reinvention, without a reimagining of the tried-and-tested dynamics and theatrics of their performance,” the review stated.

It concluded: “This, then, is how you make a comeback, not pandering, not acquiescing to expectations, but reconfiguring your art with fearlessness and quiet confidence.”

Nine Inch Nails: Peel It Back World Tour – North American Dates:

• August 6, 2025: Oakland, CA | Oakland Arena (Support: Boys Noize)
• August 8, 2025: Portland, OR | Moda Center (Support: Boys Noize)
• August 10, 2025: Vancouver, BC | Rogers Arena (Support: Boys Noize)
• August 12, 2025: Seattle, WA | Climate Pledge Arena (Support: Boys Noize)
• August 14, 2025: Salt Lake City, UT | Maverik Center (Support: Boys Noize)
• August 15, 2025: Denver, CO | Ball Arena (Support: Boys Noize)
• August 17, 2025: Saint Paul, MN | Xcel Energy Center (Support: Boys Noize)
• August 19, 2025: Chicago, IL | United Center (Support: Boys Noize)
• August 20, 2025: Chicago, IL | United Center (Support: Boys Noize)
• August 22, 2025: Detroit, MI | Little Caesars Arena (Support: Boys Noize)
• August 23, 2025: Toronto, ON | Scotiabank Arena (Support: Boys Noize)
• August 26, 2025: Baltimore, MD | CFG Bank Arena (Support: Boys Noize)
• August 27, 2025: Philadelphia, PA | Wells Fargo Center (Support: Boys Noize)
• August 29, 2025: Boston, MA | TD Garden (Support: Boys Noize)
• August 31, 2025: Cleveland, OH | R.M. Fieldhouse (Support: Boys Noize)
• September 2, 2025: Brooklyn, NY | Barclays Center (Support: Boys Noize)
• September 3, 2025: Brooklyn, NY | Barclays Center (Support: Boys Noize)
• September 5, 2025: Raleigh, NC | Lenovo Center (Support: Boys Noize)
• September 6, 2025: Nashville, TN | Bridgestone Arena (Support: Boys Noize)
• September 9, 2025: Duluth, GA | Gas South Arena (Support: Boys Noize)
• September 10, 2025: Tampa, FL | Amalie Arena (Support: Boys Noize)
• September 12, 2025: Houston, TX | Toyota Center (Support: Boys Noize)
• September 13, 2025: Fort Worth, TX | Dickies Arena (Support: Boys Noize)
• September 16, 2025: Phoenix, AZ | PHX Arena (Support: Boys Noize)
• September 18, 2025: Los Angeles, CA | Kia Forum (Support: Boys Noize)
• September 19, 2025: Los Angeles, CA | Kia Forum (Support: Boys Noize)

Photo credit: John Crawford