French Summer is Mortal Prophets’ Album Out Now
Good Day Noir Family,
Please leave it to Mortal Prophets to serve up a fever dream on vinyl.
French Summer is Mortal Prophets’ Album Out Now
With French Summer, John Beckmann and his crew have crafted an 18-track album that feels like a surreal vacation you only remember in flashes—sunlight slicing through a convertible windshield, the scent of citrus and salt, a voice calling from beyond the veil.
The journey begins with “Romp in D Minor”, a scene-setting overture that dips the listener into a fog of analog synths and faded postcard memories. It’s moody, dreamlike, and already hinting at something unshakably different.
Then comes “Monaco Rendez-Vous”, where the retro-futuristic fantasy fully kicks in—a piece that brings to mind Audrey Hepburn behind the wheel of a classic car, hair wrapped in a scarf, gliding through the cliffs of the Riviera.
Anais de Nerval, whose voice doesn’t so much sing as materialise, enters on “Sun Seekers.” Her delivery is distant, almost spectral, the kind of voice that feels more remembered than heard. On “It’s Dope,” she steps forward more clearly, her phrasing and tone embraced by Beckmann’s cinematic production, rich with atmosphere yet never overdone.
The track proves that her presence is more than just aesthetic—she’s the key that unlocks the album’s strange, transportive quality.
By the time “Lost Halo” arrives, you’re fully submerged. The production here feels futuristic, tense, with a pulsing beat and liquid synths that throb like heartbeats. This one feels built for a dancefloor in some underground gallery, where the DJ might also be reading poetry between sets.
Then there’s “Bed, Bad, and Beyond,” perhaps the most propulsive track on the record. It conjures arcade nostalgia, driven by a shimmering arpeggiator and looping vocal samples that hypnotise. A Moby would be out of place—but Beckmann’s take is grittier, more nocturnal.
A highlight, “Monstre Doux,” blends ominous grooves with an eerie elegance. It’s strange and seductive in a way that feels cinematic and raw, like something playing on a 16mm projector in a forgotten theatre.
The closing track, “Cinematic Romp,” functions as a warped epilogue. It’s sinister and playful, maybe even mocking, with carousel-like loops and circus-bent textures. It’s as if the album is saying goodbye with a wink and a puff of smoke.
Beckmann’s vision is bold, experimental, and oddly moving, while Anais de Nerval provides the ghostly thread that binds it all together.
French Summer is Mortal Prophets’ Album Out Now!
Transportive!
Based in New York, The Mortal Prophets is the shape-shifting musical project of artist and producer John Beckmann, known for his genre-blurring explorations of sound and atmosphere. His latest album, French Summer, is a decadent and hypnotic collaboration with French vocalist Anais de Nerval, a direct descendant of Symbolist poet Gérard de Nerval.
Written and produced by Beckmann, French Summer is an 18-track cinematic journey—equal parts hallucinatory Euro-disco, smoky French romance, and avant-garde dreamscape. With influences ranging from Serge Gainsbourg to Daft Punk, Lelouch to Nico, the album pulses with nostalgic sensuality and analog synth beauty.
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