The Mortal Prophets and Anaïs de Nerval conjure a sultry, synth-drenched dream that drifts between disco, poetry, and ghostly romance.
French Summer isn’t an album you simply press play on—it’s a hallucination you slip into. The latest offering from genre-blurring provocateur John Beckmann, released under his acclaimed project The Mortal Prophets, finds him joined by the spectral voice of Anaïs de Nerval for a lush 18-track odyssey of shimmering melancholy and surreal seduction. Together, they channel the smoke-filled salons of Gainsbourg, the cinematic softness of Lelouch, and the dreamlike drift of Nico—only to reassemble those elements into something strange, stirring, and utterly modern.
Anaïs de Nerval, whose lineage traces back to French Symbolist icon Gérard de Nerval, does more than feature—she haunts. Her voice doesn’t merely sing over the synth-and-string textures—it floats like a ghost in the perfume-thick dusk of a forgotten Paris. From the intro “Romp in D Minor” to the closing cinematic exhale of “Cinematic Romp,” this album unfolds like a film you didn’t realize you needed, but can’t look away from. Standout moments like “Monaco Rendez-Vous” and “Saint Tropez Tan” evoke long drives along the Côte d’Azur, while the title track “French Summer” pulses with a sense of woozy euphoria and hidden heartbreak.
Beckmann’s sonic world is unapologetically obsessive—Daft Punk gloss meets analog grit, held together by storytelling that leans into the theatrical. There’s a recklessness here, yes, but one that’s tightly orchestrated. The result? A modern-day chanson for the elegantly unhinged. Recorded between New York and Montreux, with contributions from Parker Bryant (guitars, violins) and Richmond Davis (keys, organ), French Summer feels international and timeless—like a fever dream set on celluloid.
More than a record, it’s a ride. Velvet-tinted, perfume-sweet, and impossible to forget. The Mortal Prophets invite you to feel strange, feel nostalgic, and above all, feel alive in the dusk-lit corridors of their sonic Riviera.
