Smith's music relies heavily on digital sampling and crosses many genres, forming a combination of "glitchy hip-hop beats, buzzing synth lines, and vintage funk and soul samples.". Pretty Lights' sound is generated by manipulating samples and organic beats using the Novation X-Station, monome and the Akai MPD32. Smith uses these digital controllers to program the music production software Ableton Live 8. When performing live, Smith uses two Macbook Pros running Ableton Live 8 and two Akai MPD32s. Smith usually considers his music as "Electro Hip-Hop Soul", a mix between elements of electronic based music, and beats from hip-hop and soul music.
Pretty Lights released A Color Map of the Sun on July 2, which is Grammy nominated for the Best Dance/Electronic Album . The two-CD collection contain the 13-song album A Color Map of the Sun plus a second album, Live Studio Sessions From A Color Map of the Sun.
A Color Map of the Sun builds on the original Pretty Lights sound and style that Smith pioneered. He spent a year composing and recording music and vocals that emulated genres and time periods that spanned the last century, then pressed it to vinyl. He used that vinyl along with a custom built analog modular synth to create A Color Map of the Sun. The resulting album is analog electronica – soulful, electro hip-hop that pays respect to music’s immense power to touch listeners emotionally, kinetically and inspirationally.
For more information and to download all Pretty Lights albums at no cost, visit http://www.prettylightsmusic.com.
Flitting between moody downtempo and upbeat, densely layered material geared for club play, Colorado's Pretty Lights was the project of Derek Vincent Smith. Smith spent his high school years making hip-hop and ultimately dropped out of his freshman year at the University of Colorado at Boulder to focus on his music. He made his recorded debut as Pretty Lights in 2006 with the full-length Taking Up Your Precious Time, which he supported with gigs for acts including STS9, the Disco Biscuits, and Widespread Panic. From there, he kept up a busy release schedule for the rest of the 2000s, issuing the double album Filling Up the City Skies in 2008 and another full-length, Passing by Behind Your Eyes, the following year. In 2010, Pretty Lights went on an extensive North American tour, playing that year's Coachella, Ultra, Movement, and Electric Zoo festivals, among other stops. Smith continued touring into 2011 and also developed his Pretty Lights Music imprint, releasing albums by Michal Menert, Gramatik, and Eliot Lipp. In 2012, Smith appeared in the music documentary Re:GENERATION Music Project and began work on Pretty Lights' fourth album. Instead of sampling existing recordings, Smith worked with longtime drummer Adam Deitch, Soulive's Eric Krasno, the Harlem Gospel Choir, and members of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Treme Brass Band to create vintage-sounding original music that he then refashioned into the Pretty Lights sound. The results were 2013's A Color Map of the Sun, which became the first Pretty Lights album to be released physically and digitally at the same time. ~ Heather Phares & Andy Kellman, Rovi
Still Night
Pretty Lights Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the night is so real
You can begin to know
All the things that I feel
Welcome to the next level
What makes the motherfuckers so damn fresh?
The moon, it's so pale
And the night is so real
You can begin to know
All the things that I feel
You can begin to know
All the things that I feel
W-W-W-What makes the motherfuckers so damn fresh?
It doesn't matter if your gonna stay
It doesn't matter if your gonna stay
It doesn't matter if your gonna stay
It doesn't matter at all
You can begin to know
All the things that I feel
The lyrics to Pretty Lights's song Still Night incorporate themes of introspection, self-discovery, and the intensity of emotions that can be felt during moments of solitude. The repetition of the lines "the moon, it's so pale" and "the night is so real" emphasizes the singer's immersion in their surroundings and the heightened awareness that comes with being alone at night. The line "you can begin to know all the things that I feel" suggests that it is only in moments of isolation that one can truly understand and process their own thoughts and emotions. The line "welcome to the next level" could be interpreted as the singer urging the listener to join them in a state of introspection and emotional intensity.
Line by Line Meaning
The moon, it's so pale
The moon is shining so vividly and its color has faded to a light shade.
And the night is so real
The nighttime environment is authentic and realistic.
You can begin to know
You have the ability to comprehend and understand.
All the things that I feel
My emotions and feelings can be grasped by you.
Welcome to the next level
Acknowledging the audience entering into a higher level of experience or perception.
What makes the motherfuckers so damn fresh?
Questioning what causes individuals to be extremely cool or impressive.
It doesn't matter if your gonna stay
Whether or not you plan to stay is irrelevant.
It doesn't matter at all
The idea being presented is unimportant and lacks significance or value.
You can begin to know
You have the ability to comprehend and understand.
All the things that I feel
My emotions and feelings can be grasped by you.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DEREK SMITH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@freakwilliams
First heard this while deployed to Bagram Afghanistan back in 2012 and been hooked since.
@nothankyou818
All time classic......most edm in 2019 still doesnt come close to this
@johnathanmcshirley7380
I love you 💘 😻 💜 💛 💚 🧡 💘 😻 💜 💛 💚 🧡 💘 😻 💜 💛 💚 🧡 💘 😻 💜 💛 💚 🧡 💘 😻 💜 💛 💚 🧡 💘 😻 💜 💛 💚 🧡 💘 😻 💜 💛 💚 🧡 💘 😻 💜 💛 💚 🧡 💘 😻 💜 💛 💚 🧡 💘 😻 💜 💛 💚 🧡 💘 😻 💜 💛 💚 🧡 💘 😻 💜
@TheComedyShaman
Most EDM?
He's the best producer of all time.
@nothankyou818
@@TheComedyShaman i wouldnt say that but definitely one of the all time greatest
@growmiezhomiez8760
this songs the Jam . I used to play this song out all the time. I love his Biggie Samples
@devendra.sanghavi
The algorithm did not brought me, i came here by myself
@petertheoneandonly9752
Amen bro
@Soniti1324
When a hook gets stuck in your head a decade later, and you must listen if only to dislodge it.
And then you fall in love all over again-
@Kevinp8090
What makes the mutha fucka so damn fresh?