"Mirage (for ''Assassin's Creed Mirage'')", or simply "Mirage" is a song by American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band

OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band from Colorado Springs, Colorado, formed in 2002. The lineup currently consists of Ryan Tedder (lead vocals, piano), Zach Filkins (guitar, viola), Drew Brown (musician), Drew Brown (guitar), Brent Kutzle ( ...

featuring Saudi Arabian singer Mishaal Tamer released in promotion of the

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...

video game ''

Assassin's Creed Mirage ''Assassin's Creed Mirage'' is a 2023 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Bordeaux and published by Ubisoft. The game is the thirteenth major installment in the ''Assassin's Creed'' series and the successor to ''Assassin's Creed Valhalla' ...

''. It was released through Mosley and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

on September 22, 2023. The song is the fifth single from OneRepublic’s sixth studio album '' Artificial Paradise'' (2024).

Background and composition

"Mirage" was written by

Ryan Tedder Ryan Benjamin Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, and lead vocalist for the pop rock band OneRepublic, while also serving as a prolific cont ...

, Mishaal Tamer,

Brendan Angelides Brendan Angelides, formerly known by his stage names Eskmo and Welder, is an American electronic music producer and composer. He has released music on the record labels Interscope Records, Interscope, Ninja Tune, Planet Mu, and Warp (record lab ...

, and Grant Boutin. It was produced by Tedder and Boutin and mixed by

Serban Ghenea Serban Ghenea () is a Canadian audio engineer and mixer. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award a total of 45 times and has won 21 times. Early life and education Ghenea was born in Romania, and in 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. H ...

. The song was written and produced in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

within four days, immediately after receiving the request for the song. Tamer was added as a vocalist after the band wanted to have a Middle Eastern artist in the song and was the best choice as he was touring with the band on the Artificial Paradise Tour. In a statement, Tedder described the desire for the song: The song's lyrics describe the similar story of the Assassins of ''

Assassin's Creed ''Assassin's Creed'' is a historical fiction, historical action-adventure video game series and media franchise published by Ubisoft and developed mainly by its studio Ubisoft Montreal using the game engine Anvil (game engine), Anvil and its m ...

'', with a self-determined theme carried through the verses. Tamer's bridge is in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and, according to the official video's translation, describes persevering when others falter.

Music video

A music video for "Mirage" premiered on September 22, 2023 and was directed by Tomás Whitmore. The video features Tedder as an

Assassin Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

with other band members and Tamer performing in a dark tunnel with moving and atmospheric lighting intermittent with cinematic footage of ''

''. The video was shot in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, close in time to the band's set at Isle of MTV, inside a tunnel where soldiers would march before going to battle.

Charts

References

{{Authority Control 2023 singles 2023 songs OneRepublic songs Songs written by Ryan Tedder Songs written for video games Assassin's Creed