Pretty Lights Debuts New Songs for KCRW at Sonos Studio
A girl smiling from ear to ear stumbled out of the sweaty Sonos Studio in Hollywood last night, screaming “that was the best two hours of my life!!”. The two…
By Rachel Reynolds • • 1 min readby Jerod Harris/Getty Images
A girl smiling from ear to ear stumbled out of the sweaty Sonos Studio in Hollywood last night, screaming “that was the best two hours of my life!!”. The two hours in question featured a set from Pretty Lights at the tiny, invite only space where he debuted songs from his forthcoming album “A Color Map of the Sun”.
Derek Vincent Smith aka Pretty Lights was fresh off a four-hour set at Bonnaroo and, despite the cross-country travel, seemed genuinely psyched to be sharing his new music for the first time.
Pretty Lights has built his career on his expertly crafted “sample collages”. But with four albums and three EPs exploring the art of sampling under his belt, he wanted something new and challenging.
“A Color Map of the Sun” is a complete departure. Instead of searching for vinyl gems, he created his own breaks from scratch. The kinds of sounds “hip hop producers live for and dig for”.
Before an interview hosted by Jason Bentley, they screened a behind-the scenesdocumentary on the two year process of making the album. It was shot by his girlfriend and showed him working with countless musicians in Brooklyn and New Orleans to get exactly the sounds he wanted.
In it, he described his music as “analog electronica in its purest form”. Later he told Jason that he was aiming for “music that can still be played when the power goes out”.
When the Colorado native finally hit the stage to play, the fans went crazy. It was a full on dance party from the start that reached new heights when he played KCRW favorite, “Around the Block feat. Talib Kweli”. He called out the more ambient “Yellow Bird” as one of his personal favorites from the record.
Considering his recent LA appearances — a sold out show at the Shrine and Coachella set – this was by far the smallest room he’s played here in years.
It had the feeling of a friend playing you his favorite records in his living room – but with a massive light show!
It was pretty incredible and we’re excited to share portions of the interview and performance – essentially the live radio premiere of his new album – on Morning Becomes Eclectic on July 2.Tune in!
RR