Like for its predecessor, guitarist Steve Howe resumed his role as producer, and the FAMES Orchestra in North Macedonia provided orchestral arrangements by Paul K. Joyce on some songs.

The album was released on CD, LP, Blu-ray, and digital platforms, with some editions containing additional artwork by long-time Yes cover artist Roger Dean.

In October 2021, the Yes line-up of guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Alan White, keyboardist Geoff Downes, lead vocalist Jon Davison, and bassist Billy Sherwood, with Jay Schellen guesting on percussion, released The Quest.

[4][5] Later in May 2022, Yes announced that White would sit out of the upcoming 2022 world tour to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Close to the Edge (1972), due to illness.

[6][7] When work on the album began the band still had a lot of potential musical ideas to develop, partly due to the amount of time spent away from recording during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Howe said the group were in a strong "creative zone" at the time, and approached Mirror to the Sky in a similar way to The Quest, but wanted the new album not to be a mere repeat of the last.

[2][8][9] Like its predecessor, Howe resumed his role as producer and the FAMES Orchestra in North Macedonia provide orchestral arrangements by Paul K. Joyce on some songs.

[9] "Cut from the Stars" was primarily inspired by Davison's first visit to a dark-sky preserve at Joshua Tree National Park with his brother and father, who encouraged him to appreciate nature.

The pair approached the song's lyrical themes in different ways; Davison said Sherwood took on a more "technological and physical" aspect, whereby he looked at it from a metaphysical view.

[16] Gary Graff gave a positive review for Ultimate Classic Rock, hailing the album as "even better" than The Quest with the group adopting a more aggressive and "muscular" sound.

He felt Downes was "strangely absent" from the album and considered his role as a supporting player as opposed to handling lead riffs and melodies.