John Beckmann has pulled a power move. The guy behind Mortal Prophets spent years building a sound that crawled through dark alleys, psychedelic fog, and broken-down romance. And just when you thought you had him figured out? He flips the script. NOT HERE NOT THERE isn’t the record you expected. It’s brighter. Weirder. More restless. And somehow, it hits harder because of it.
This is Beckmann’s laboratory. He wrote it. He arranged it. He produced it. He built the whole damn thing himself at Lux Astralis, then handed it off to Atomix LA to master. But here’s the twist that’ll make your head snap back: Beckmann doesn’t sing a single note on this album. Not one. The man stepped away from his own microphone. That takes guts.
Instead, he brought in Tanner McGraw on lead vocals and Lawson Mars on backing duties. And holy hell, does it work. McGraw’s voice is this quiet, intimate thing—detached but never cold. He’s not trying to show off. He’s just there, floating right inside the atmosphere of the songs. Then Mars comes in underneath, widening the whole emotional frame like a ghost choir you can barely place. Together, they turn these tracks into something that feels human without ever getting pushy about it.
Sixteen tracks. Ranging from just over two minutes to just under four. No fat. No filler.
“Was It Your Voice“ kicks things off—shimmering guitars, warped synths, that sense of transmission noise like you’re tuning into a station that’s slightly off frequency. Then “Where Love Goes to Die“ keeps the drift going. “Love is Found“? Bright but fractured. “The Fool“ hits in under two minutes—short, punchy, gone before you can catch your breath.
Then you’ve got heaters like “Franz Xaver Messerschmidt“ (yeah, Beckmann’s brain works different), and “Not Here Not There“ itself. The back half throws “10 Signs Of Death,” “Lucifer Effect,” and “Small Victories“ at your skull. Each one’s a little fractured pop gem that refuses to settle into easy nostalgia.
Beckmann builds everything. Nothing locks into a straight grid. The beats are there but they don’t behave like anchors—they’re more like soft nudges. Muted kicks. Delayed snare ghosts. Synth parts that bleed into one another instead of sitting clean. Sometimes a theremin-like lead cuts through the haze, giving the whole thing a sci-fi shiver that’s more disorienting than retro.
Compared to earlier Mortal Prophets stuff like Hide Inside The Moon, this one has movement. Brighter tonal shifts. Sharper emotional tension. It’s still music for empty avenues after midnight—motel windows, passing streetlights, memory getting louder than conversation—but now there’s a pulse underneath. A sense that something’s about to crack open.
Tanner McGraw and Lawson Mars didn’t simply step into Beckmann’s world. They became part of the machinery. Their voices float through these tracks like another synth layer disguised as breath. And Beckmann? He’s still the mad scientist behind the boards, twisting knobs, letting oscillators drift slightly out of tune, building a record that doesn’t chase trends or revivalism.
NOT HERE NOT THERE exists in its own atmosphere. Reflective. Restless. Impossible to pin down. And absolutely worth your time.