Pretty Lights Just Dropped a Secret, Encoded EP—Here's How to Unlock It

Spread the love

Seven years since Pretty Lights released new original music, the drought is over.

The iconic electronic music producer, who returned to the stage last summer after a half-decade hiatus, recently announced a pair of rare Vegas arena concerts taking place in late-October. He’s now revealed details, but there’s much more than meets the eye—and ear.

Pretty Lights today shared a trailer on YouTube to tease the shows, which are billed as “3033: Ancient Future” and “1996: Rave Origins.” Hidden in plain sight, however, in the video’s description is a cryptic easter egg: “to unlock a doorway find the eyecon.”

Naturally, the first place to look was Pretty Lights’ website. After scrolling down to the bottom, a strange ocular icon appears in alignment with his social media favicons. Clicking it triggers the launch of a password-protected website containing the following message:

Time is not a boundary, but an extension of your journey. It unfolds like a path, and within each moment lies a key to open new doors. If you step through them, and look closely you’ll find that the answers you seek are already there, waiting to be discovered.

Entering the password, “secret,” enables access to the site, at which point another message appears:

well done, fellow voyager. this is for you to enjoy, and to share with the community how you see fit. help write this next chapter we are embarking on together.

And just like that, voilà: a new Pretty Lights EP featuring five brand-new tracks. Titled Dual Fusion Unity, the record is playable only on the decoded site via a retro, dotcom-era Winamp media player and is not yet available on streaming platforms.

Awash in warm, textured analog synths, the music is vintage Pretty Lights, a kaleidoscopic fusion of electro-soul, funk and bass music woven through a latticework of nostalgic samples. It’s a breathtaking project that pours gasoline on the hype surrounding the “multi-sensory” shows in Vegas over Halloween Weekend.

Taking over the illustrious MGM Grand Garden Arena from October 25-26, Pretty Lights will take the same stage commanded by The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and countless other music icons. Prior to last year’s momentous comeback, he had remained out of the public eye since the summer of 2018, when he performed for a sold-out crowd at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

The doubleheader is part of Pretty Lights’ “Soundship Spacesystem 2024 Check Your Vector Tour.” Fans can purchase tickets here.