NY-based artist John Beckmann is having a purple patch. Since 2022, his work as Mortal Prophets has yielded three EPs, numerous singles, and five albums. The latest album, ICNCLST/, is billed as an EP, but with seven tracks, it also meets the criteria for an album by some metrics. Though it’s a tad over twenty minutes, it feels like both an album and an EP. There are shifts in mood, and ideas are sporadically current throughout, but there is also the more pressure-free attitude associated with EPs. Designation aside, ICNCLST/ mostly gets the job done. One is forgiven for perceiving it as slapdash on first inspection. Beckmann overly characterizes his strikingly blunt lyrics, the synths are abundant and overblown, and the drum programming is mostly on auto-pilot. But there is substance in Beckmann's writing, incorporating rudimentary ideas and lyrics into more frivolous structures.
"Flowers For You" is timeless songwriting; the soft structures of which are given bite through its rocking drums and trippy guitar atmospheres. The vindicating powers of love—“It seems like the real thing in a world that’s unreal”—show how giving flowers to a romantic prospect is an age-old cultural practice that spans continents; a symbolic ritual of generosity that ultimately represents vitality and a penchant for beauty, something mirrored in Beckmann's performances. This use of metaphorical imagery is explicit on "Sun Is On Fire", a song about living to die, harking to a life of escapism and romance. Everything is bolted together with uppity drum sequencing.
The Doors-esque "Bang Bang" is where the album introduces its more flamboyant side, a sentiment continued in "Who’s That Girl," a ridiculous song about the songwriter's insecurities in realtion to beautiful women. He sees a fetching woman in New York and wonders endlessly about her. He imagines her going on a date with some "rich dude" who looks like Gregory Peck or George Clooney. It's basically a somehow creepier version of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful," albiet with more self-aware verbal abandon and male competition-oriented thinking. Certainly memorable, if not for the right reasons.
A more coherent occurrence is "So Real," with its alluring soar of bright melodies and slide guitar flourishes. "Like The Night" doesn't hold back on the smoochy sax lines and RnB production aesthetics, perhaps the most questionable moment here. The closing track, "Dreamland," is an empyrean and highly focused cut not afraid of mixing 60s AM pop, 80s synth-pop, and more modern dark pop sprinklings into the same pot.
ICNCLST/ by Mortal Prophets is a stirring collection of synth-laden pop rock, underpinned by John Beckmann's easily digestible and frank songwriting. There are moments of awkwardness here and there, especially when Beckmann lets his guard down too far, but the dreamy intentions mostly cover up these questionable moments, leaving the audience compelled to surrender to the whims of this offbeat but ultimately entertaining performer.
★★★