New York City-based artist John Beckmann has always seen creativity as something that can flow across any stylistic border. Working across music, visual art and performance, he’s walked a path paved by the idea that art is a constantly developing language and his project Mortal Prophets represents the clearest expression of that mindset so far; a shape-shifting creative world where blues, gospel, electronics, mythology and experimental songwriting all meet, creating music that feels connected to the past as well as strangely futuristic.
Since revealing the project in 2022, Mortal Prophets has developed into an endeavour defined by transformation and while led by John’s vision, the music moves through different forms and identities, embracing collaboration and reinvention over any fixed sound. Guitarist Parker Bryant and organist Beckett Laurent contribute to the projectâs sonic landscape, helping create a world where spectral atmospheres, hypnotic melodies and unexpected textures collide.
It’s music that feels like an old hymn transmitted through a digital cathedral, with elements of Americana, ambient soundscapes, dream pop and minimalism gliding together into something that feels equally known and unfamiliar, balancing organic instrumentation with electronic experimentation. Their interest in the meeting point between mysticism and technology was present from the beginning and debut single âStomp The Devilâ first introduced John’s ability to reshape spiritual imagery through electronic frameworks, mapping out a project built around atmosphere, storytelling and unconventional combinations.
Mortal Prophets continued expanding its creative scope through ambitious releases including HANUSSEN The Enigmatic Clairvoyant: An Opera and Brian Eno In Heaven, projects that demonstrated John’s ability to explore different forms while maintaining a strong artistic identity. By the end of last year, Mortal Prophets released Under The Influence, a five-track EP revisiting songs that helped shape his own creative journey. Acting as both tribute and transformation, the project reflected the artistâs ability to look backwards while continuing to move forward and that idea continued through the full-length album Hide Inside The Moon and its follow-up Not Here Not There, further expanding the projectâs blend of psychedelic atmosphere and experimental songwriting.
Yet just when Mortal Prophets appears to settle into a recognisable world, John changes direction once again and with Ainât No Fool, the artist delivers perhaps his most adventurous collection to date, shifting towards post punk energy, psychedelic noir rock, experimental garage textures and downtown art rock attitude. Across 15 tracks, each under three minutes, Ainât No Fool is lean, unpredictable and full of contrasts. The album carries echoes of influential artists including The Velvet Underground, The Strokes and Pere Ubu, while also distilling the dry, understated humour of Jonathan Richman, resulting in a record where sincerity and irony exist together, where moments of tenderness can sit beside moments of absurdity and chaos.
“I Am Your Lover” lands with the twang of stuttered guitar notes and tapped percussion as brooding vocals glide above to craft a stripped back and dark art rock jam. âI Think I Made You Up Inside My Headâ explores intimate dream pop areas where the soft patter of percussion and plucks of bass underpin delicate vocals as breezy guitar rhythms add subtly upbeat vibes, crafting a playful jam that’s catchy and highly original throughout. Tracks like âElementary Menaceâ move into an altogether more unsettling sphere that dissects an existential childhood crisis through a smokey soundscape of haunting guitar arrangement, the punchy beat of drums and moody vocal performance.
âMy Addictionsâ finds humour within an auto-tuned confession and âDancing In The Fading Lightâ slows the record into something reflective and almost sacred. On the LP, Mortal Prophets also turns its attention towards the myths and contradictions surrounding identity and creativity, with âDreaming Iâm A Rock Starâ playfully examining rock mythology. The title track âAinât No Foolâ becomes a confident statement from someone who has experienced enough disappointment to recognise trouble when it appears.
âEndless Julyâ offers a sense of bittersweet optimism through a grooving scene of snapping beats, pulsing instrumentation and rhythmic vocal delivery, while âBy The Seaâ captures a more cinematic sense of melancholy before closing track âCherry Shineâ brings sweetness and disquiet together, exploring gender-bending identity through John Beckmannâs distinctive artistic expression. Throughout Ainât No Fool, Mortal Prophets continues to dissolve the boundaries between literature, garage rock, psychedelia and post punk storytelling, offering a record where beauty and decay exist in the same space, where heartbreak can still produce a smile and where humour becomes another way of revealing something honest.
Listen to Ain’t No Fool below
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