It looks like Pretty Lights just released a new EP—but the process of listening to it is a little more complicated than logging into a streaming site and hitting play. [Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for what appears to be a scavenger hunt/series of riddles concocted for the release.]
Fans have been clamoring for new recorded music ever since Pretty Lights returned from a five-year hiatus in 2023 with a new-look live configuration. Since the release of 2013’s acclaimed A Color Map of the Sun LP, the only new Pretty Lights studio tracks have come in the form of a brief 2014 EP, The Hidden Shades, and a pair of singles, 2017’s “Strawberry Letter 23” flip “Rainbows & Waterfalls” and 2016’s mellow “Only Yesterday”. While new material has consistently made its way into live Pretty Lights sets, the outfit led by producer Derek Vincent Smith has held off on releasing it to the masses. Until now…
On Wednesday, the forward-thinking electro-soul act shared a promotional video for an upcoming two-night Halloween run in Las Vegas detailing the shows’ time-traveling themes centered on the past (1996) and the future (3033). As the video’s caption teases, “The adventure begins with your call… tel: 8557283751 ⏳🌀,” or “1-855-RAVE-PL1.” It adds, somewhat inauspiciously, “to unlock a doorway find the eyecon.”
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When you call the number, you are greeted with a stylized description of the two nights, with additional information at the corresponding extensions, “1996” and “3033”. As the recorded message from Pretty Lights notes, “In one month’s time, a ‘dual fusion unity’ event will occur across all dimensions. All those who respect the timeline will receive the transmission. … Only once this ritual is complete can this message of love be felt and understood.”
Hmm. That’s a strange way to refer to an upcoming run of shows, right? Right?? Well, maybe that statement isn’t about the Las Vegas shows at all…
In addition to detailing the Las Vegas themes, the hotline message concludes with a mysterious prompt: “If you have received any other extensions from the messengers of time, enter them to decode their gifts.” We’ll admit we tried a few random four-digit “extensions” before throwing in the towel and hanging up.
Then, we thought back to that snippet from the initial post, “to unlock a doorway find the eyecon,” and went looking. Turns out, at the bottom of the tour page on the Pretty Lights website, next to icon links for the various Pretty Lights social media accounts, is a nondescript icon of an eye… an “eyecon.”
When you click on the “eyecon,” you are redirected to a curious page titled “Dual Fusion Unity – Terminal” that displays a retro-stylized computer screen with a message from Pretty Lights and a prompt to enter a password: “Time is not a boundary,” it reads, “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.” The message then repeats the hotline number from the Las Vegas video post (855.728.3751). A game is afoot.
So, we need a password. Must have something to do with these extra “extensions” mentioned on the hotline—the ones that were supposedly delivered by the “messengers of time.” Online sleuths quickly went back to the new “time-traveling” Vegas promo video for clues—and they were quick to find them.
Early in the video, viewers are shown a frame featuring two sets of dates, years, and times—a la the DeLorean from Back to the Future. While the pictured dates correspond to the two Las Vegas shows (October 25th and 26th) and the two years correspond to the actual year (2024) and the year of the “past”-themed show (1996), the four-digit times shown—one of which isn’t even a valid time—don’t seem to correspond to the shows at all. Hmm…
When you call the hotline and enter the two four-digit “time” numbers from the video as extensions, you are presented with a pair of riddles.
For the extension/time corresponding to 2024 in the video (0963): “Welcome, fellow travelers. You’ve arrived at the shallows of something deeper, a place where the sonic waves of the past, present, and future collide, creating vibrations that ripple through our shared journey. A new chapter is emerging, a chapter that we’ll write together, but before we can turn the page, you must unlock the next step. The key lies in this question, listen closely: I can be open to all and spoken much, but when I reach the top, my voice is hushed. What am I? When you have the answer, follow the signs—and perhaps find a pen.”
For the extension/time corresponding to 1996 the video (0108): “Welcome, voyagers of the unknown. as we gather once again beneath the sun and glow, our current course grows ever more clear but the destination remains unknown. Tonight, the answers you seek are not hidden in sound or in light, but in the hands of someone moving among you, a storyteller of swirls carrying a glimpse behind the cosmic curtain. Seek the man in familiar stripes. Should the fates conspire to put you in his proximity, inspire his delight by reciting the password only an ace detective would know. A one-of-a-kind award awaits the one who extends this kindness.”
We have to admit, we’re not exactly sure who the man in the familiar stripes is in the second riddle, and we don’t have an exact explanation for the first one, but the answer soon began to float around Pretty Lights circles online. It’s a “secret.”
Now, go back to the link behind the eyecon and try that password. “well done, fellow voyager,” a pop-up message reads. “this is for you to enjoy, and to share with the community as you see fit. help write this next chapter we are embarking on together.” Following that message, the page presents you with the option to “Toggle Winamp Player.”
Hit that button in the Dual Fusion Unity Terminal and an old-school Winamp player pops up with five new Pretty Lights songs loaded in: “ROADtothestars”, “WhereAreYouGoing”, “NEWHEIGHTS”, “HOW CAN YOU LOSE_SEARCHING”, and “SunshineComingThroughWoutro”. All five tracks are playable, and you can mix them live as you listen via an equalizer panel and various audio presets.
So, there you have it: five new Pretty Lights tracks for you to listen to (and manipulate) at will. See, we told you this would be complicated. Enjoy…
P.S. We’re sure we missed layers in this complicated scavenger hunt. If you caught something we missed, email andrew@liveforlivemusic.com and let us know.