Nine Inch Nails Share The Vigorous ‘As Alive As You Need Me To Be’ From Their ‘Tron: Ares’ Score

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are the duo behind Nine Inch Nails. They also create many film scores together, but for those works, they use their real names instead of the band name. However, for their score for Tron: Ares, they have chosen to credit it as Nine Inch Nails.

While the exact implications for the project are not entirely clear, we do have a clue: NIN released the first track from the soundtrack today (July 17), titled “As Alive As You Need Me To Be.” This track could easily belong on a typical NIN studio album, featuring electronic elements and Reznor’s vocals.

Regarding their decision to approach it this way, Reznor shared with Empire, “A couple of years ago, [Tom MacDougall, President of Walt Disney Music] visited the studio and asked, ‘Would you be interested in scoring Tron?’ Before he could finish, I exclaimed, ‘Absolutely, we want to do that.’ He then asked, ‘How would you feel about it being credited as Nine Inch Nails instead of Trent and Atticus?’ We were surprised by that question.”

He continued, “I’ll share a few hints: our score doesn’t include any orchestral elements. It can sound sharp and uncomfortable at times. It’s not a harsh, atonal score, but we dedicated a lot of time to considering the underlying themes of the story. The idea of artificial life that experiences feelings and emotions, questioning their purpose and replaceability, and their lack of a soul, in some respects. We explored that concept.”

You can listen to “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” above, and check out the cover art and tracklist for the Tron: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) below, along with NIN’s upcoming tour dates.

Nine Inch Nails’ Tron: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Album Cover Artwork
Interscope Records
Nine Inch Nails’ Tron: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Tracklist

1. “Init”
2. “Forked Reality”
3. “As Alive As You Need Me To Be”
4. “Echoes”
5. “This Changes Everything”