- 2024-07-16
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MUSIC
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OneRepublic Releases New Album “Artificial Paradise”
American pop rock band OneRepublic, consisting of Ryan Tedder (lead vocals/keyboards), Zach Filkins (lead guitar), Drew Brown (rhythm guitar), Eddie Fisher (drums), Brent Kutzle (bass) and Brian Willett (keyboards), released their sixth studio album “Artificial Paradise” on July 12, 2024.
This marks their first album in three years since the 2021 album “Human”.
The album comprises a 15-track (deluxe edition 18 songs), including an action-adventure game Assassin's Creed Mirage soundtrack “Mirage” with Mishaal Tamer, produced by OneRepublic.
The deluxe editions features the collaborative song “I Don't Wanna Wait” with David Guetta, Japanese anime “Kaiju No. 8” soundtrack “Nobody”, and the UEFA EURO 2024 official song “Fire” with MEDUZA and Leony.
The band started writing the album in 2016, and as a reflection of the AI explosion, they incorporated the phrase “artificial paradise” sneak in some of the lyrics.
The band frontman Ryan Tedder explained, “In the last two years we've seen this explosion of social media and AI. The lines blur so drastically between real and fiction... and all of us are guilty, in some way, of projecting our own "Artificial Paradise." Our own version of perfection, whatever that may be. So for us, as we were writing these songs, we started to resonate with that phrase [Artificial Paradise] and sneak in some lyrics that refer to that state we are all in.”- “Artificial Paradise technically started with a song called West Coast that we started in a hotel room in New Orleans in 2016, Ryan Tedder said of the album. That song led to a series of others over the last eight years that didn't quite make sense together, but we kept collecting songs and we kept writing; as we do, in different hotel rooms and studios dotted around the world.”
He continued, “The shape of a new album started taking place and so much of the lyrics, and so many of these songs were written in the last couple years while we navigated a world, full of artificial stories and constructs and paradise - all around the world and people's digitally broadcasted lives and the lives that we create for ourselves and the stories that we tell ourselves and others.”
He added, And as we continue to talk about this new paradigm, the phrase 'artificial paradise' kept coming up over and over and over again. And it just feels all too resonant with the world we currently live in, and the aspiration of so many people, for better or worse. Amidst all of that artificiality, we are trying to find real connection and real love, and a real story.” -
The band explained about some tracks for the album.
“West Coast”
“West Coast' is people keep asking about this song. 'West Coast' is one on my all-time favorite top five OneRepublic songs we've ever done. The reason it hasn't come out yet is because it's such a unique sound, it's so different than all the normal OneRepublic stuff… we decided to make a whole album that made sense for 'West Coast' and that's the album that we've been working on for the last four months. 'West Coast' is one of the key singles on that album and the sound of that album we're slightly switching up to match with 'West Coast,' because we think the song is so good.”
“Mirage” with Mishaal Tamer
Ryan Tedder: “Most people don't know this about me, but my band and I are closet gamers. I've been a huge fan of Assassin's Creed since the beginning. Having toured extensively in the Middle East, I wanted to capture the spirit of that region and reflect the location of the game sonically as much as possible. I can't wait for our fans and fans of [Assassin's Creed] to hear what we came up with. This was a definite pinch myself moment.”
Mishaal Tamer: “To be featured on a song with my musical heroes, OneRepublic that soundtracks my favorite video game, is a dream come true. I am honored to be a part of this special collaboration with OneRepublic and Assassins Creed.”
“I Don't Wanna Wait” with David Guetta
David Guetta: “I was coming out of the baby successfully. I'm good. And I wanted to come with a follow up. The chorus was so huge, but it was borderline cheesy. So I really had to find very very cool, beautiful verse. I couldn't find anyone else and him to do it. And then he did to wrap an emotion to the song.”
Ryan Tedder: “That was the thing, which is because the chorus is like this. And you needed something that was more internal. I knew we were shooting a music video here in Miami. David was like, 'Hey, I'm headlining Ultra. What about premiering the song, which we had never performed together?' I said hi to him before, that's what he said. And he's like, 'Are you good?' And I was like, 'yeah'. We were shocked by the second chorus 10,000 of people were singing every word and that when we got off days I asked have they heard this song before? No one had heard the song.”
“Fire” with MEDUZA and Leony
Ryan Tedder: “Today is special with the release of FIRE. We wrote it for football and music fans everywhere, hoping it will inspire and unite us as we count down to UEFA EURO 2024. The #LightYourFire campaign is an invitation to fans worldwide to join us on this journey.”
MEDUZA: “Now more than ever, the power of music to unite us is undeniable. As huge football fans, we're thrilled to combine our passion for the game with our music for UEFA EURO 2024.”
Leony: “I'm thrilled that FIRE is out! Growing up watching the tournament with my family made me fall in love with football. With this edition coming to my home country Germany, being part of the official tournament song is a dream come true!” - source : Apple Music
