Nine Inch Nails’ Tron: Ares Music Video Is An Appropriately ’90s Throwback

When Nine Inch Nails was announced as doing the musical score for this fall’s Tron: Ares, I think I speak for all fans of The Grid when I say that news was most welcome. The previous debut of the picture’s first single, “As Alive As You Need Me To Be,” only helped double down on those feelings. (It’s also made me particularly excited to return to Walt Disney World, as the Tron Lightcycle Run’s new NIN overlay is something I need to experience for myself.)

Now that we have a music video to go along with this track from director Joachim Rønning, I’m actually really glad that this actually turned out to be a more traditional NIN music video. Don’t just take my word for it though! Take a peek at Tron: Ares’ new music video below, and see for yourself! 

ID Discs on the table, I thought we’d be getting the San Diego Comic Con reel of Tron: Ares footage that boasted this track. That obviously didn’t happen, but what we did get is a purely Nine Inch Nails video that totally fits with the band’s style. 

Tron: Ares’ Music Video Also Fits What We’ve Heard About Its Score’s Tone 

Composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have been a sterling double act for film music aficionados since their 2010 score to The Social Network. Their work together in Nine Inch Nails (which currently sees them both traveling on behalf of the Peel It Back Tour) is equally iconic, leading to their Tron: Ares gig being credited under that very brand. 

In conversation with Empire, Reznor set up the following expectations for what Ares’ sonic landscape will sound like:  

It sounds precise and unpleasant at times. It’s not an atonal, punishing score, but we spent a lot of time thinking about the undertones of what’s happening in the story. The concept of artificial life infused with feelings and emotions and a sense of questioning their purpose and their replaceability, their lack of soul, in some ways.

That same interview also saw the co-composer of the scores to Mank, Soul, and Challengers promising “not one second of orchestra” being present in Tron: Ares’ musical programming. With the weighty journey of Jared Leto’s Ares into the real world, a lot of those sci-fi fundamentals Trent Reznor raised above appear to be playing out in this long-awaited continuation of the Tron series.

Tron: Ares boots up in theaters on October 10th, but keep your eyes peeled for some early access showings slated to hit theaters a couple of days earlier. (One of which is an IMAX double feature with Tron: Legacy on the bill!)

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