Pretty Lights (Derek Vincent Smith) has been absent from the Electronic Music scene for just about a decade now. His last album A Color Map of the Sun released in 2013. For those of you who have never heard of this artist. He was one of the leading forces to integrate soul and live instruments into his tracks. Flo Rida’s “Good Feeling” and Avicii’s “Levels” both popularized Etta James in the early 2010s. But Pretty Lights got there first in 2006 with “Finally Moving.” This is a full five years before Avicii would use her vocals. If you’ve never heard the song, it’s a relaxed downtempo vinyl-DJ smooth ride.
This artist was seminal and paved the way from many artists after him. He was one of the first electronic music producers to have a live drummer perform with him. His integration of funk and soul paved the way for future producers to build on his foundation. Because when he first emerged onto the scene, he sounded like no one else.
Pretty Lights just dropped a teaser on Youtube and his recently reignited instagram. He gives us a sample of one of his unreleased tracks. It gives an updated freshness to that Pretty Lights style that is so uniquely his own. We are so glad he’s coming back!
“Perhaps I may become a pretty light again, or I may simply be a single drop of rain, but I will remain, and I’ll be back again.”
He has also released tour information for this late-Summer into Autumn. Pretty Lights will be performing around the United States and select locations and festivals. This includes Denver, New York, and San Francisco. I strongly recommend you give his library a listen if you haven’t already. His fans haven’t gone anywhere.
