Any Nine Inch Nails fans who have followed the storied film score career of band members Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross knew that something special was cooking when it was unveiled at the D23 convention last year that they would be handling the score for Tron Ares under the Nine Inch Nails handle.
It was a landmark announcement. Reznor and Ross, the sole official members of the industrial-rock titans, have embarked on an acclaimed, award-winning career as Hollywood composers alongside their work as NiN, but have always released scores under their own names and never crossed the streams. Even when there were soundtracks which sounded very much a part of NiN’s imposing sonic world – their techno-heavy score for the love-triangle tennis psychodrama Challengers or their work for the brilliant Watchmen series – it always remained separate from NiN.
But they have boldly changed tact with their soundtrack for the forthcoming film Tron: Ares, the third instalment in the sci-fi franchise following 1982’s Tron and 2010’s Tron: Legacy. The films have good stock when it comes to soundtracks – Tron’s was handled by electronic trailblazer Wendy Carlos and Tron: Legacy was done by French dance dynamos Daft Punk. There was no doubt that NiN would keep up the standard – the soundtrack is out today and it’s absolutely brilliant. You can see why they’ve opted to break with form with tradition – this is a record that belongs in the Nine Inch Nails catalogue, and not even amongst their more experimental releases, such as the ambient Ghosts series of albums. This should be in there with the proper stuff. Discounting Ghosts, this is the first NiN album since 2016’s Bad Witch (and that was only six tracks).
“Music is such a big part of the Tron franchise,” said director Joachim Rønning in a short clip to accompany the release of the soundtrack. “I knew that they were going to do the music so I’d listen to them when we were shooting to get in the groove. They’re so spot on when they’re analysing each scene It was important for Trent and Atticus, the music is in the front speakers, like you would be hearing the music at a concert.” But perhaps Tron star Jeff Bridges, aka The Dude, puts it best. “Nine Inch Nails, man,” he exclaimed in that cosmic, smoky way of his. Too right, Jeff. Nine Inch Nails, man. Let’s head into their Tron: Ares soundtrack track-by-track…
Init
The record does not take long to get into its electro swagger. Twenty seconds, in fact. From thereon in, Init is a glitchy electro mini-epic, an off-beat hi-hat rhythm - used in much the same way it is on the dirge-y, brilliant Add Violence track The Background World - bringing everything else into focus.
Forked Reality
After that attention-grabbing opening, the set slides into the eerie ambience of Forked Reality, all expansive synth notes and solemn guitar notes. I’ll put money down that someone is definitely looking menacing on screen at this point, possibly looking over an urban landscape from a distance.
As Alive As You Need To Be
And then its head-first into the anthemic synth-rock of As Alive As You Need To Be, the first cut from the soundtrack to be released when it came out back in July and a regular fixture on the setlist for the band’s ongoing Peel It Back tour.
Echoes
The soundtrack swoops from longer, fully-formed songs to interludes throughout its 24 tracks. Echoes is somewhere in between, a plaintive and minimalist piano piece that sounds more in tune with some of Reznor and Ross’s more downtempo score work.
This Changes Everything
Nothing downtempo about the pulsing This Changes Everything, though, a tightly-wound techno tune that threatens to explode but never does, arpeggiated synths hypnotically weaving around a driving beat.
In The Image Of
The first of a few songs on the set that come across like a homage to the unsettling soundscapes of Vangelis’ iconic Blade Runner score, In The Image Of seems to be setting the scene for something very ominous…
I Know You Can Feel It
The second song to feature singing from Reznor on the album, I Know You Can Feel It’s trippy, restrained groove and rumbling low-end makes it sound like NiN’s Hesitation Marks album taking its cues from Massive Attack’s creeping electronic masterpiece Mezzanine.
Permanence
And then into another short and atmospheric interlude, all minor-chord keyboard drones and eerie effects. Every time that’s happened so far, the next thing has felt like a punch in the face…
Infiltrator
And so it goes with the strobing robo-funk of Infiltrator, which sounds like the more dancefloor-friendly moments of Daft Punk’s Tron: Legacy soundtrack being dragged down to NiN’s dingy dungeon. There’s a trademark NiN move on here too, as a lithe bassline cuts right through the electro criss-crossing. They do that a lot, and it always sounds great.
100% Expendable
More dystopic Vangelis vibes here, a slo-mo synth piece that sounds like the keyboards are melting as they’re being played.
Still Remains
There’s a break from the digital onslaught during the haunting and beautiful piano piece Still Remains, which resembles one of the mesmeric cuts Reznor and Ross composed for the 2022 Sam Mendes film Empire Of Light.
Who Wants To Live Forever?
Not, unfortunately, a cover of the OTT classic that Queen wrote for Highlander – a real shame, would love to have heard Trent Reznor giving it the full Freddie. Instead, this is another full song with vocals (I feel bad for the other songs saying that – I still count you as full songs too, don’t cry!), the warped piano chords and airy synth sounds at the beginning bringing to mind Radiohead’s Kid A. Then a female vocal joins (not sure who that is – no other vocalist is mentioned on the credits) and it unfurls into a gently epic ballad and one of the most affecting NiN songs in years. Which I guess is better than NiN doing a Queen cover so it all worked out in the end.
Building Better Worlds
More monolithic and menacing synth sounds here, the sort that make you think the character this cue belongs to is not, in fact, building better worlds. Nope, they’re the baddy, don’t trust them!
Target Identified
One thing music needs more of is song sequels. I know this, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross must know this, because Target Identified is pretty much As Alive As You Need Me To Be, the same chord structure reprised with a nastier groove underpinning it, the dread pushed to the fore.
Daemonize
The tension creeps up over Daemonize’s first few minutes, resets itself and then comes back for more, drama keyboard chords holding off a baleful oscillation of beats before the song distortedly collapses in on itself towards the end. One of those songs where nothing much has actually happened but your brain is saying, ‘Go back and play that again, that was wicked!’.
Empathetic Response
Some of Tron: Ares more contorted, instrumental pieces could fit in between the big-hitters on NiN’s sprawling The Fragile. The uneasy, sustained keyboard notes of Empathetic Response is one of them.
What Have You Done?
Strong vibes of Reznor and Ross’s Watchmen soundtrack here in the way What Have You Done? sees a somewhat carefree synth hook face-off against a fierce, heavy chords, a thumping beat that comes in two-thirds of the way pushing the whole thing into a different realm.
A Question Of Trust
A short, sharp blast of stomping electro-punk arrives in the form of A Question Of Trust, which brings to mind the fearful, skewed sonics of the pair’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo soundtrack except imagine it’s Lisbeth Salander with a tattoo of the Downward Spiral cover instead.
Ghost In The Machine
Another dark, mysterious interlude: aka something bad is happening on screen right now.
No Going Back
But No Going Back is that sinister vibe turned on its head. A callback to Who Wants To Live Forever?, it's all uplifting piano chords and weightless synth effects until the whole thing is washed out by a haunting female vocal and waves of synths.
New Directive
After the murkiness of Nemesis, it’s back into dance banger territory with the propulsive New Directive, a song pulled from the same slick, future-pop palette as As Alive As You Need Me To and Init. Definitely has a “big hero moment” vibe about it, this one.
Out In The World
One last moment of calm before the final song, this is the sort of calming piano piece that can be found lurking near the end of quite a few NiN albums. It’s great, the only bad thing about it that it’s only one minute long… hello, repeat button!
Shadow Over Me
The album ends with a final biggun, Trent vocal’n’all. The music sounds like an inverted version of As Alive As You Need…, upside down, inside out… with the chord sequence nodding to the descending pattern in Downward Spiral cut Heresy. Excellent tune and a perfect way to end the very first NiN soundtrack.
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