"As Alive as You Need Me to Be" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Released on 17 July 2025, the song served as the lead single from their upcoming score for the film Tron: Ares (2025). It is the first Nine Inch Nails release since the 2021 Health collaboration "Isn't Everyone".
A few days before the song's release, its title was teased on a t-shirt sold at European dates on the band's Peel It Back world tour.[1]
The release was accompanied by a lyric video uploaded to Nine Inch Nails' official YouTube channel, as well as a new trailer for Tron: Ares on Disney's channel that prominently featured the song.[2][3] The release date, track list, and pre-orders for the film's soundtrack were also announced on the day of the song's release.[4]
Stereogum described the song as "a fearsome rocker built on retro-futuristic ’80s electro synths" with "Reznor [bringing] real ferocity to his lead vocal", while Uproxx described it as "an electronic banger [...] that could fit on a regular NIN studio album".[5][6] Furthermore, Revolver characterized the track by its "huge-ass synth-bass rhythms and quake-inducing drum-machine beats [as well as] a devilishly melodic, distortion-pressed chorus", also theorizing that its "vocoded backups [are] perhaps a nod to previous Tron scorers Daft Punk".[7]
