7/10

John Beckmann’s latest offering under The Mortal Prophets moniker dissolves into focus over a slow yet compelling texture. 'French Summer' is an eighteen-track immersion into an alternate reality where every synth line shimmers and every whispered vocal feels like it’s been pulled from a reel of forgotten French cinema.

Anais de Nerval is the ghost at the heart of this project, drifting through them while blurring the edges of language and melody. There’s something eerily intimate about her delivery. While Beckmann, ever the architect, dials back his usual chaos in favour of a more sculpted kind of opulence. The beats are understated but tactile, the strings sweep with romantic restraint, and the analogue textures curl around you like cigarette smoke in a velvet lounge.

At times, the record feels like driving through the South of France with the top down and no destination in mind. It’s retro-futuristic without pastiche, decadent without drowning in itself. You can hear glints of classic French pop, smoky cabaret, disco noir, and ambient electronica, but none of it feels derivative as they look to pursue a more distinctive direction throughout.

In the vast sea of releases that try to bottle intimacy or nostalgia, 'French Summer' actually achieves both without trying too hard. It’s a record that asks you to slow down, lean in, and surrender to its dream logic. John Beckmann has built a world, and Anais de Nerval is its siren. If there’s a soundtrack to longing in the modern age, this might be it.