The new single from Mortal Prophets is instantly engrossing. Complex arrangements of saxophone, horns, keys, drums and acoustic and electric guitars give ‘Sleeping in My Bed’ an epic, cinematic feel, especially as it swells towards the end. It’s an intriguing blend of styles, a theatrical blues vamp that slowly drips with tension and menace. John Beckmann’s voice is so full of character, weary and lived-in and real; when it is twisted together with Aoibheann Carey-Philpott’s dreamily ethereal vocal, the result is at once unsettling and beautiful. There’s something magical going on here. Beckmann’s songcraft is remarkable, driven by an adventurous, experimental spirit. The atmosphere is reinforced by the footage pieced together for the video, which is full of story-fragments, fire and death.
‘Sleeping in My Bed’ is the title track from the forthcoming six-song EP, which is due for release on 15th March 2024. The new material is Mortal Prophets’ first set of entirely original songs and is the follow-up to the 2023 album ‘Dealey Plaza Blues’, an inventive and utterly absorbing collection of alternative sounds. The album featured strange, twisted re-imaginings of old songs, with all-new and sinister melodies set to electronic flourishes and compelling percussion. ‘Sleeping in My Bed’, like the previous release, is something beyond genre, an adventurous exploration of mood and music. There are folk and blues influences that are stirred with sharp, brittle beats, rumbling bass and swirling layers of instrumentation. Check this out – Mortal Prophets deliver distinctive, stirring music to be lost within. Be absorbed.
I have to say that “Sleeping In My Bed” is the most remarkably unique piece of musical inventiveness that I’ve experienced since I first listened to Little Richard. I doubt, however, it could spawn an entirely new genre the way LR’s music did. (It didn’t work for Tom Waits, did it. Just saying.)