Nine Inch Nails has stunned fans with an unexpected digital drop, unveiling Tron Ares: Divergence on Friday (Feb. 27). This 20-track collection serves as an expansive companion to their original Tron: Ares soundtrack, offering a deeper dive into the futuristic soundscapes crafted by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
The album is a robust blend of previously unreleased cues from the film’s score alongside a curated selection of remixes. The duo enlisted an eclectic roster of electronic innovators for the project, including Meat Beat Manifesto’s Jack Dangers, Pixel Grip, Mark Pritchard, and longtime collaborator Boys Noize. Notably, the collection features Arca’s interpretation of “As Alive As You Need Me to Be.” The original version of that track has already enjoyed significant acclaim, securing the Grammy for Best Rock Song on Feb. 1, while the primary Tron: Ares score reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 back in October 2025.
Boys Noize, who is slated to perform a collaborative “Nine Inch Noize” set at Coachella this coming April, contributed three distinct remixes to the new release: “A Question of Trust,” “Ghost in the Machine,” and “What Have You Done?”
The surprise arrival confirms theories sparked by a cryptic social media teaser. On Thursday (Feb. 26), the band’s Instagram account featured a gallery of tour Polaroids that included a mysterious black-and-green grid. Sharp-eyed followers correctly guessed the image was a snippet of the artwork for this new chapter in the Tron universe.
The release comes amidst the band’s extensive “Peel It Back” world tour. The trek originally launched in Dublin in June 2025 before wrapping its first leg with a high-profile residency at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. The current second leg kicked off on Feb. 5 in New Orleans—a city deeply tied to the band’s history, as it was where Reznor recorded the 1999 landmark album The Fragile. Nine Inch Nails is scheduled to conclude this run of shows on March 16 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.
