PRAISE FOR – UNDER THE INFLUENCE (EP)
“The track selection runs from Elton John to Brian Eno to Iggy Pop, David Bowie, and Bush Tetras, and each one gets a completely different treatment. ‘Tiny Dancer’ becomes quiet and ghostly, stripped of its original warmth, while ‘Third Uncle’ is pushed harder and made more mechanical.
The other tracks receive similar overhauls, each reshaped to fit the band’s aesthetic. Trust me—you will love this EP.”
— BEACH HOUSE
“UNDER THE INFLUENCE is not simply a collection of covers. It is a sonic laboratory where influence is transformed, where fragments of musical heritage become living matter. With this release, Mortal Prophets confirms its place on the avant-garde scene, capable of reinventing the past in order to inhabit the present.”
— IGGY MAGAZINE
“The EP opens with Elton John’s ‘Tiny Dancer,’ reimagined as an ambient elegy. Without the grandness of the original, the song becomes quiet, fragile, and deeply personal—more of an afterimage than an anthem.
Brian Eno’s ‘Third Uncle’ is driven even further into the red, becoming a serrated, post-industrial sprint that feels constantly on the verge of collapse. The descent continues with ‘Sister Midnight,’ which intensifies Iggy Pop’s Berlin-era paranoia, while David Bowie’s ‘Repetition’ becomes a claustrophobic pulse study where minimalism turns stifling.
The closing track, Bush Tetras’ ‘Too Many Creeps,’ returns as a broken apparition of downtown menace, with jagged basslines and nervous energy colliding at sharp angles.”
— HYPEHUB
PRAISE FOR – LOST IN SPACE
“All told, Lost In Space is sleek, nocturnal, and emotionally charged. The Mortal Prophets don’t simply revisit synth-pop here—they rewire it, transforming familiar textures into something personal, cinematic, and quietly magnetic.”
— ILLUSTRATE MAGAZINE
“‘Lost In Space’ draws you in, wraps itself around you, and quietly takes over. One of Mortal Prophets’ most compelling and fully formed statements to date, it confirms that this project is still evolving, still surprising, and very much in orbit.”
— NO TRANSMISSION
“Lost In Space is undoubtedly synth-pop, and Beckmann clearly draws from early pioneers such as John Foxx-era Ultravox and early Depeche Mode. But this is not imitation—it’s about lifting the torch and carrying that sound into contemporary, adjacent, and unusual territory.
Whatever label you give it, the world feels like a slightly changed—and undeniably better—place for this album, and for Beckmann being in it.”
— THE BIG TAKEOVER
“By the final moments, Lost In Space feels less like something you leave behind and more like a place you linger. Mortal Prophets have crafted a release that hovers, and once you’re caught in its orbit, it’s difficult not to stay there a while longer.”
— FLEX
“The EP carries the emotional core of early Depeche Mode and John Foxx-era Ultravox, blended with modern nocturnal sounds closer to Chromatics and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Beckmann describes it as a transmission from another dimension—and that description makes perfect sense once you listen.”
— BEACH HOUSE
PRAISE FOR – GUITARWORKS II
“One of the many things I admire about John Beckmann is that he is an artist in the truest sense of the word. Many musicians develop a sound early on and simply repeat it throughout their careers, but Beckmann resists that impulse entirely.
To do otherwise would be like a painter limiting himself to seascapes simply because he happens to work well with the color blue.”
— DANCING WITH ARCHITECTURE
“The press release was so descriptive and well written that I was tempted simply to copy and paste it in full. Each composition unfolds as a brief, self-contained ritual, evoking the ancient and the invisible through layered guitar tones, analog textures, and deep spatial awareness.
Influences such as Robert Fripp, Jon DeRosa, and Brian Eno are evident, but never dominant.”
— PITCH PERFECT
“A texturally impactful minimalism flows throughout the album, embracing spaciousness and sonic individuality while maintaining thematic cohesion. Each track is named after a pre-Columbian archaeological site—an aptly meditative choice given the album’s focus on silence, memory, and transcendental experience.
Beckmann describes GUITARWORKS II as music about attunement, landscape, and the mythic residue that lingers in forgotten places.”
— OBSCURE SOUND
“There is an American transcendentalist spirit at work here—Thoreau’s stillness, Emerson’s reverence—yet the album is equally rooted in the ambient traditions of Robert Fripp, Stars of the Lid, and Brian Eno’s collaborations with Cluster.
Beckmann absorbs these influences without imitation, distilling them into something uniquely topographical. This is ambient music as cartography.”
— NO TRANSMISSION
“There are sixteen tracks, but each is concise and contributes something essential to the whole. From the opening unease of ‘Chaco Canyon’ to the low-down blues of ‘Angel Mounds,’ Beckmann proves himself a master of atmosphere.
Above all else, the guitar emerges as the true star—you’ve simply never heard it like this before.”
— YORK CALLING
PRAISE FOR – FRENCH SUMMER
“The presence of Anaïs de Nerval is central to the album’s allure. Her voice drifts in and out like memory—sensual, ghostlike, and just out of reach. It’s less about lyrics and more about atmosphere.
Every phrase feels as though it’s been lifted from a Godard film and filtered through cigarette smoke. She doesn’t anchor these tracks—she haunts them.”
— THE PARTAE
“French Summer doesn’t attempt to build a single narrative arc. Instead, it unfolds as a mosaic of moods, styles, and emotional pockets—and because of that, I kept wanting to hit repeat.”
— PITCH PERFECT
“In a landscape crowded with records attempting to bottle intimacy or nostalgia, French Summer actually succeeds without strain. It’s an album that asks the listener to slow down, lean in, and surrender to its dream logic.
John Beckmann has built a world here, and Anaïs de Nerval is its siren.”
— MYSTIC SONS
“Don’t expect neat conclusions or familiar signposts. You can rarely do that with John Beckmann’s work, and certainly not here. Expect the unexpected—and even then, what you receive will be vastly different from what you anticipated.”
— DANCING ABOUT ARCHITECTURE
“A collaboration between John Beckmann’s Mortal Prophets and Anaïs de Nerval, French Summer is an intoxicatingly cool and thoughtful album with a genre-defying, avant-garde appeal.”
— CLOUT
PRAISE FOR – SUPERSONIC
“Speaking about the inspiration behind the album, Beckmann explains that Moroder was a magician of the machine age. The aim was to channel that hypnotic pulse while bending it through abstraction, emotion, and controlled chaos.
The goal has clearly been reached—and the limits shattered once again.”
— MESMERIZED
“The experimental madness of Mortal Prophets takes another fascinating turn with SUPERSONIC, an album that plunges headfirst into disco while completely reinventing it.”
— BEACH HOUSE
“I know few artists who can move so fluidly between genres and still make them sound new. You will never hear disco the way Mortal Prophets are doing it here.”
— YORK CALLING
“Mortal Prophets don’t resurrect disco—they dismantle it in order to forge a futuristic version. SUPERSONIC feels less like nostalgia and more like a voyage through a shattered mirrored ball.”
— IGGY MAGAZINE
“Across its fifteen tracks, the album takes the listener on a synthetic journey that proves both versatile and emotionally sensitive. To call it merely experimental feels insufficient.”
— ROADIE MUSIC
PRAISE FOR – THE LAUREL CANYON SESSIONS 1966–69
“With Laurel Canyon: The Lost Sessions, Beckmann doesn’t merely mimic the greats—he joins their ranks. The album serves as a vivid auditory map of a musical landscape crackling with the energy of a bygone era.”
— GROOVER CITY
“Every track radiates authenticity, packed with vintage Moog synthesizers, wah-wah pedals, and thick fuzz distortion. The sound transports listeners straight to the smog-hazed hills of late-1960s Laurel Canyon.
This isn’t nostalgia—it’s a fully realized time machine.”
— BEACH HOUSE
“On this occasion, Beckmann truly delivers a masterclass in inspired artistry.”
— MESMERIZED
“Beckmann transforms into an alchemist of psychedelia, juggling chaos and cosmic frequencies to produce something that feels timeless rather than retro.”
— EXTRAVAFRENCH
“This ten-track album captures the spirit of the countercultural revolution and places listeners directly inside its restless creative core.”
— MUSIC EARSHOT
PRAISE FOR – ICNCLST/
“ICNCLST/ is what happens when electronica tears a hole through rock and roll. Digital dexterity collides with analog tradition, while echoes of pre-war blues are reinterpreted through krautrock and chamber-pop.”
— THE BIG TAKEOVER
“With this EP, Beckmann confidently stakes his claim as a provocateur of sonic innovation, blending psychedelic boldness with a rock-infused sheen.”
— FAME MAGAZINE
“A vibrant, genre-fluid record where dreamy new wave meets nostalgic electronic pop, all anchored by Beckmann’s smooth, hypnotic vocal delivery.”
— MESMERIZED
“Through astute musical choices and relentless creativity, Beckmann and collaborators rekindle pop’s magic, crafting songs that push beyond expectation.”
— ROTATE MAGAZINE
“Rich, immersive textures and bold atmospheres make this some of Beckmann’s most compelling work to date.”
— FLEX MUSIC
PRAISE FOR – NEW BREED (Single)
“It feels almost primordial, yet extraterrestrial, as though the aural entity John Beckmann and the Mortal Prophets have conjured transcends time itself. ‘New Breed’ is not an ordinary song—it’s a shamanic invocation layered atop a rebellious cry against the mundane.
Beckmann has given birth to a true masterpiece, one that will leave its mark on all who experience it.”
— MUSIC ARENA
“He turns the recognizable into something new, the familiar into the fresh, and then does something entirely unexpected once he arrives there. With artists like John Beckmann in the world, perhaps there is something new under the sun after all.”
— THE BIG TAKEOVER
“‘New Breed’ stands as a striking example of the band’s audacious musical vision.”
— PLASTIC (UK)
“‘New Breed’ sees Mortal Prophets seamlessly blending post-punk, indie, and vibrant electronica into a kaleidoscopic mix that draws the strongest elements from each genre.”
— BROKEN 8 RECORDS
“Adopting a more dreamlike aesthetic, this release perfectly illustrates the inventive direction the band has been pursuing—one of their most distinctive outings to date.”
— FLEX
PRAISE FOR – BRIAN ENO IN HEAVEN (EP)
“Is this what heaven sounds like? It’s certainly beautiful enough to be.”
— ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE
“Music has the ability to act as a portal to imagined and mystical worlds. Mortal Prophets understand this deeply, manipulating sound into rare and far-reaching musical gateways that challenge and transform the listener’s reality.”
— LOST IN THE MANOR (UK)
“The trick Beckmann pulls off is balancing the intriguing with the unusual, remaining forward-thinking without ever alienating the listener. It’s the musical equivalent of being lost in a strange city—mysterious, but never disorienting.”
— THE BIG TAKEOVER
“John Beckmann is a true pioneer, unafraid to forge his own path while honoring the cultural and musical influences that shape him.”
— YORK CALLING (UK)
“Experimental, enigmatic, and deeply immersive, Brian Eno In Heaven escorts listeners through chilling and captivating soundscapes from start to finish.”
— MESMERIZED
PRAISE FOR – HANUSSEN: THE ENIGMATIC CLAIRVOYANT
“This is a gift—a masterpiece that deserves to be cherished by anyone seeking music that transcends the ordinary.”
— EDGAR ALLAN POETS
“Each note resonates with a haunting energy, like lightning slowed to a snail’s pace, creating an atmosphere of lingering foreboding.”
— FAME MAGAZINE (UK)
“Far removed from typical electronic soundscaping, Mortal Prophets deliver something that exists beyond both contemporary and classical traditions.”
— THE BIG TAKEOVER
“There are no words left—only feeling. When the final notes fade, you emerge changed, reborn through sound.”
— EDM RECORDS
“Deeply immersive, hypnotic, and thought-provoking, this album invites reflection on human nature and historical legacy.”
— INDIE GRID
PRAISE FOR – SLEEPING IN MY BED
“The eerie atmosphere recalls Nick Cave’s haunted literary landscapes, steeped in disquiet, sparsity, and unease.”
— FAR OUT MAGAZINE
“An epic, cinematic blend of saxophones, horns, guitars, and layered arrangements, dripping with tension and menace.”
— AMERICANA UK
“Beckmann’s thoughtful surrealism captures modern hypocrisy and reflects it back with emotional clarity.”
— YORK CALLING (UK)
“This EP represents a fearless reimagining of classic American songwriting applied to a fractured world.”
— FAME ICON
“A profound exploration of the human condition, delivered with both guts and heart.”
— EDGAR ALLAN POETS
PRAISE FOR – GUITARWORKS
“The guitar playing isn’t just about skill—it’s about expression. The tones resonate emotionally, to the point where you forget you’re listening to a recording.”
— EARMILK
“A stream of sonic consciousness that never tires the ear, instead offering healing through experimental bliss.”
— MESMERIZED
“More than an album, GUITARWORKS is a living, breathing piece of art that defies categorization.”
— BORED CITY
“Few artists possess the audacity and range Mortal Prophets display here.”
— YORK CALLING (UK)
“One of the finest instrumental albums available today.”
— MUSE CHRONICLE
PRAISE FOR – THE TWANG GANG (LIVE IN BERLIN)
“Cosmic country proves an apt description—this live release feels adventurous, immersive, and otherworldly.”
— FLEX
“Instrumental compositions that push the boundaries of music as art.”
— THE FURTHER
“A bold declaration that experimentation still thrives.”
— INDIE MUSIC FLIX
“Raw, intense, and utterly transcendent.”
— EDM REKORDS
“A timeless instrumental experience that needs no words to resonate.”
— IGGY MAGAZINE FRANCE
PRAISE FOR – DEALEY PLAZA BLUES
“Imagine the darker side of Depeche Mode fronting Nick Cave—Mortal Prophets radically reinterpret traditional songs with disturbing electronics.”
— AMERICAN SONGWRITER
“Hypnotic and bone-chilling.”
— WONDERLAND MAGAZINE
“An acid trip without the acid.”
— THE OTHERSIDE REVIEWS
“No other record in its year left such an indelible mark.”
— HAILTUNES
“A fearless deconstruction of blues and post-punk that speaks directly to the soul.”
— PLASTIC (UK)
PRAISE FOR – STOMP THE DEVIL (EP)
“A continuation of Beckmann’s eccentric storytelling, blending gospel, Americana, and avant beats with unsettling clarity.”
— AMERICAN SONGWRITER
“Gliding instrumentals punctuated by booming beats and lacerating guitars.”
— EARMILK
“A darkly haunting experience that awakens buried stories from American history.”
— PUNK HEAD
“A song that creates its own musical genre—an ideal sound for the people of the night.”
— EDGAR ALLAN POETS
PODCASTS + INTERVIEWS
