Colorado's Derek Vincent Smith has always grooved to his own cut-up, sample-based "electro hip-hop soul" style. Starting with his first release (Taking Up Your Precious Time) to growing through future multiple releases and headlining tours, Pretty Lights has created a movement and legion of diehard fans who will follow each and everyone of his releases. But outside of a few singles here and there, the producer has not released an EP (or LP for that matter) since his December 2010 release Glowing In The Darkest Night. After months (if not a year?) of speculation, Pretty Lights himself finally announced the details and release date of his forthcoming album entitled, A Color Map Of The Sun (July 2):
"It has been 2 years, 5 months and 24 days since I last released a record. I am properly delighted to announce the release of my new full-length album "A Color Map of the Sun." I began work on this album/project/experiment in February of 2011 and spent a year creating my own vinyl collection of everything I needed to produce the album I heard in my head. I spent the next year producing songs with homemade vinyl samples and a big crazy analog synth I built just for this album. It is truly Analog Electronica. It's soulful electro hip-hop that went back in time to learn from the life of its smooth ass grandparents."
Derek's approach, while crazy by today's expectations, is not that crazy at all for an artist committed to their craft. The process was long, but it's not much different than what other bands have been doing for years outside of "EDM" and it's now what we're seeing with Daft Punk and Avicii. Producers who have been moved to go beyond what's expected and begun incorporating live instrumentation recordings into their own brand of electronic music. Pretty Lights will also be giving the album away for free just as he has always done and it's another sign of commitment to his craft.
You can pre-order the album via PrettyLightsMusic.com.
