It took Body Paint nearly two years, two bassists, and two producers to get “Mirage” out of the desert. The band struggled to record and produce the single, trying to get the exact sound that they felt the song deserved. After countless hours in the studio, they’ve taken a stab at an early 2000s alt rock vibe with a curious time signature, capturing a sound akin to Crazy Town or a finessed Linkin Park, as they chase down a dream of a questionable nature.
“It’s about an inner battle,” says Body Paint’s lyricist and singer Adam Furlotte. “The questions we ask ourselves about whether what we believe is true, about what we’re seeing is true; are we just seeing what we want to see? In essence, it’s about being trapped in our own reality and we’re destined to be lost if we don’t have someone or something to ground us. When writing, things just come to me, when I hear the music, the lyrics and the ideas just come.
“It’s like, every song can have infinite melodies and infinite lyrics, but the ones that come to me just flow. I look to life experiences, things I’ve seen, felt, how the music brings about a thought or a feeling”
Eric Lewis, Body Paint’s drummer, notes that the song grew organically from a jam session, and the lyrics themselves seem to have caught the moment. It seems standard operating procedure for Body Paint, who have taken a democratic approach to their work; simply allowing the muse to step in where she may. The mirage we’re seeking out through the desert, whether that happens to be a personal demon or otherwise, seems to be the manifest form of the song’s own elusive nature. Rather than an oasis in a desert, we’ve wandered into a jam session looking for treasure.