It’s been a while since anybody has been able to have the pleasure of looking forward to a new Pretty Lights album. For the first time in over two years, Derek Vincent Smith, better known as Pretty Lights, announced to the world that his new full album, A Color Map of the Sun, is finished and set to be released on July 2nd this summer. Staying true to the Pretty Lights style, the album will be available to download on his website at no cost on the day of release.
“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 Vincent Smith
Along with the announcement of the new album release this summer, Pretty Lights also gave us a first glimpse at one of the songs featured on A Color Map of the Sun, with a music video and free download of his new track “Around the Block”. With the unique blend of the electro, hip-hop, and soul style of Pretty Lights, and the funky-smooth vocals of Brooklyn native Talib Kweli, this track instantly brought me back to the unbelievable music Pretty Lights has been producing for years. And as an added treat, a documentary including Derek Vincent Smith talking about his creative process and live production recordings will be available along with the album release (and is previewed below). 
It isn’t hard to see how much time and work Pretty Lights has devoted to this upcoming album. A Color Map of the Sun is undoubtedly going to be a very highly anticipated release, which is only to be expected from one of the most innovative producers in the scene today. You can pre-order the full album on his website, and be sure to check out the music video for “Around the Block” and documentary preview below!
Pretty Lights – Around the Block (feat. Talib Kweli) [Official Music Video]
The Making Of: “A Color Map Of The Sun” Documentary [Preview]
