Nine Inch Nails Releases 'As Alive As You Need Me To Be' Music Video

Nine Inch Nails have released the music video for their track 'As Alive As You Need Me To Be', which served as the lead single from the Tron: Aries soundtrack. The song released back on July 17th 2025 comes as their first release since 2021. The music video for the song dropped on September 3rd 2025 and was met with astounding reviews for its visuals.

The song itself opens up with a gated synth mixed with 8-bit sounds and an underground style drum beat. Mixed with risers and buildups the song pulls you in right from the get go. The beat, heavy and grungy at times, complimented with mono sung verses, and melodic choruses truly hits the mark as a classic, yet modern Nine Inch Nails song.

The songs lyrics focus on the point of view of someone who doesn't seem to be able to find their place in society. With lyrics "give me something to believe in", and "everything happens for a reason", the track gives us a glimpse into self discovery, almost like a trial run at life. This could also be seen as someone that is being forced to live a lifestyle they don't feel comfortable in. Personally I view the lyrics as one trying to be someone that they aren't and once they discover that being who they truly are, and not forcing a certain stereotype on themselves will faithfully allow them to feel free.

I'm a visuals kind of guy, and my friends know that very well, hence why some of my favourite artists are Lady Gaga, Melanie Martinez and Allie X to name a few. My friend had sent me a link to the music video and recommended I do a review on the song and music video and I'm sure glad that he did because the visuals of the music video alone are stunning.

The music video will dazzle you with black and white glitches, space themes, and what can almost be described as getting lost in an old tube television set, remember those? The televisions you had to muster up all your strength to move? Mixed with camera angles that give you a 3D aspect of lead singer, Trent Reznor, the camera angles seamlessly mesh with the animated effects. I found myself at times getting lost in the visuals and loosing touch when actual video footage merges with visual animated effects as you can tell the music video was meticulously put together.

At times some of the visual effects reminded me of the classic early 60's Doctor Who introduction, but if I can relate something I'm currently watching to another thing that I adore, then it was perfectly executed in my books. The music video prominently done in black and white, changes to red hues midway through the video, complimenting the Tron: Ares theme.

Whether you want to get lost in the song, or the digital world of the music video, Nine Inch Nails put together a masterpiece for their song "As Alive As You Need Me To Be". You can stream the song below on Apple Music & Spotify.