The way it makes me feel, infection
It’s almost like a tongue on the back of my neck
I never had a choice, connection
I never had a chance to catch my breath
Nine Inch Nails return with a jolt of distorted electricity in their new video for “As Alive As You Need Me To Be.” Making its debut back in July, the track is pulled from the soundtrack album the band scored for Tron: Ares. Here, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross plunge headlong into fever-dream abstraction, their presence refracted through monochrome static and crimson haze. The video is both a milestone—the first proper Nine Inch Nails video to feature Ross, and the first on-screen appearance of Reznor since 2013’s “Came Back Haunted.”
Directed by Maxime Quoilin, the film seethes with tension: hands clawing from the void, barren landscapes gnawed at by distortion, and images that crack apart like damaged tape. Shot by cinematographer Xiaolong G Liu, with edits from Quoilin and Aloïs Champougny, and augmented by @1080p.world’s VFX, the video burns like an analog transmission caught between channels, as if NIN themselves were struggling to break free from the interference.
Musically, “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” lunges forward on jagged synths, sharp percussion, and a pummeling low end that channels both retro-futuristic 1980s electro and the serrated edge of Nine Inch Nails’ trademark industrial rock. Reznor’s vocals are ferocious, breaking through distortion-pressed choruses while ghostly, vocoded layers underscore a descent where consciousness is downloaded and compressed digitally. Yet the track feels mechanical yet feverishly human, collapsing the distance between steel and skin. Lyrically, it is a plea for connection in the midst of suffocation: intimacy described as infection, desire consuming the space between two bodies until there is no doubt or escape. When Reznor cries, “Give me something to believe in / All these hands have got a hold of me,” the song becomes both a hymn and a confession.
Watch the video for “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” below:
Nine Inch Nails are currently in the midst of their **Peel It Back 2025 tour**, their first full-scale outing since 2022. The run has been hailed as a career-spanning triumph, with critics praising both its intensity and theatricality. Across the dates, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have unleashed a blistering 20-song setlist that threads together feral new material with fan favorites like “Wish,” “The Hand That Feeds,” “Closer,” “March of the Pigs,” David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans,” and the crushing closer “Hurt.” Despite the intensity, there have been flashes of levity: at their Philadelphia show, Reznor broke into laughter mid-set when Santa suddenly appeared, crowd-surfing across the pit—an image as absurd as it was unforgettable. With Boys Noize in support, the band is storming through arenas with a show that balances raw aggression, spectral beauty, and a love of their fans, old and new.
Upcoming Nine Inch Nails 2025 Tour Dates
- September 5: Raleigh, NC – Lenovo Center (w/ Boys Noize)
- September 6: Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena (w/ Boys Noize)
- September 9: Duluth, GA – Gas South Arena (w/ Boys Noize)
- September 10: Tampa, FL – Benchmark International Arena (w/ Boys Noize)
- September 12: Houston, TX – Toyota Center (w/ Boys Noize)
- September 13: Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena (w/ Boys Noize)
- September 16: Phoenix, AZ – PHX Arena (w/ Boys Noize)
- September 18: Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum (Night 1) (w/ Boys Noize)
- September 19: Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum (Night 2) (w/ Boys Noize)
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