Brand new record from Mortal Prophets

New York City-based John Beckmann has long been a polymath who treats art like a language that never stops progressing. Known for melting together music, visual art and performance, his latest endeavour, Mortal Prophets, is his most ambitious experiment yet. It’s a hallucinatory universe where blues, gospel, electronic music and myth all converge, forming a sound that feels at once ancient and forward-thinking.

Since arriving in 2022, Mortal Prophets has established itself as a living organism more than a fixed band, operating as an ever-shifting collective of collaborators orbiting John’s pioneering vision. Guitarist Parker Bryant and organist Beckett Laurent form part of the core constellation, helping to construct a sound that’s both ghostly and magnetic. Their music feels like a séance between eras where fragments of Americana, dream pop, ambient and minimalism smash into something that sounds like an old hymn echoing through a digital cathedral.

The Mortal Prophets story started off with “Stomp The Devil,” the debut single that introduced John’s fascination with reimagining the spiritual and the surreal through electronic textures. A series of daring releases followed including conceptual epics HANUSSEN The Enigmatic Clairvoyant: An Opera and Brian Eno In Heaven. Each release expanded the scope of John’s artistic output, showing an artist determined to explore where technology and mysticism collide.

By the end of last year, Mortal Prophets had released Under The Influence, a five-track EP that reimagined songs that had shaped John Beckmann’s own creative voyage. The project closed that chapter with reverence and experimentation, setting up a new phase realised in the form of the full-length album Hide Inside The Moon.

The record drifts through the blurred edges of consciousness, capturing the strange feeling between dream and waking life. Across its songs, John once again takes control as writer and producer but this time, he’s joined by two new voices; Tanner McGraw and Lawson Mars, described by John as “the kids down the street.” Hide Inside The Moon exists in the shimmering intersection of psychedelic dream pop, noir cinematic pop and ambient drift. Its atmosphere channels the hazy vibes of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd and the fragile warmth of Robert Wyatt’s later work, while still sounding entirely its own.

From the atmospheric opener “Mad Girls Love Song (Sylvia Plath),” the airy vocal flickers float above the soft pulse of instrumentation to form a woozy slice of alluring dream pop music. “Eyes In The Sky” brings jumpy energy as pattering percussion and intricate instrumentation crafts a retro power pop soundscape led by bright vocal leads. “Blue Velvet” glides into psychedelic areas with the soft strums and washy textures casting an immersive scene as hushed vocals roll above, offering a delicately melodic outing.

There’s a cinematic thread running throughout the album, recalling the eerie romance of David Lynch and the melancholy of Angelo Badalamenti’s scores. Title track “Hide Inside The Moon” slips into a spacey slice of downtempo synth pop while other highlights on the record include songs like “Devil Doll” with its restrained groove, intriguing vocal arrangement and instrumental detours. With “Through Colours,” the subtle warble of processed vocals adds off-kilter aesthetic to the steady pulse of forward motion, resulting in a truly transportive listening experience.

Drawing links between Pink Floyd’s surrealism, Cocteau Twins’ dream logic, Beach House’s hazy romanticism and the cinematic scope of Vangelis, Hide Inside The Moon feels like a vivid dream translated into sound. Still, it’s entirely Mortal Prophets, offering a project that turns memory, myth and technology into something visionary and groundbreaking.

Listen to Hide Inside The Moon below