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 β soulful, electro hip-hop that pays respect to musicβs 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
The Time Has Come
Pretty Lights Lyrics
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The lyrics "the time has come for bad things to end, the time has come for life to begin" in Pretty Lights's song The Time Has Come suggest a sense of renewal and hope for the future. The phrase "bad things" can be interpreted in different ways, but ultimately refers to negative aspects of life that one may experience. This could be issues such as personal struggles, societal problems, or global crises. The lyrics suggest that there is an end in sight and that it is time to move forward into a better phase of life. The phrase "life to begin" suggests that there is newness and freshness to be experienced. This can be interpreted as a call to action to seize new opportunities and start to create a better quality of life.
The song, in general, is about positive change and growth. The lyrics inspire listeners to leave the negativity behind and embrace something new. The beat of the song itself is upbeat, which supports the positive message that the lyrics convey. One can interpret that it's time to start something new and that there's hope for a better tomorrow. In essence, the lyrics urge people not to lose hope but instead to believe that they can create a new beginning and start afresh.
Line by Line Meaning
the time has come for bad things to end
It is finally time for all the unfortunate events and negative experiences to come to a close.
the time has come for life to begin
It is now the appropriate moment for a new phase of existence, full of promise and potential, to commence.
Contributed by Oliver K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
King Valas
This song is so psychedelic. I love it
Edwin Prado
Definitely a song that has changed my view of life. Thank you for creating this song. It has calm me down when I have been at my most stressed out or out of place in the world. Thank You.
ChiRolla88
4:45 always gets me
I know PL has like depression issues or something, he should just come to the comment section of any of his songs, and see how many peopleβs lives his music has touched over the past 10 years or so. Pretty incredible
εΌεΈ
:)
legginsrotos
I love the way I can hear your songs in different moments of my life
not_the_illuminati
yes exactly
Experiment
To this day
Josh Neill
π€―
yeetmaster
this
Patrick Allen
seeing that this came out 11 years ago just sent shivers down my spineβ¦ I was just a kid in high school and the world has changed so much nowβ¦ I know youβre all still out there pretty lights fam. Much love through these weird times