John Beckmann, known for his work with The Mortal Prophets, has announced a new project, Utopia PKWY, and shared the first single, ‘I Knew You Would Be Trouble’.

The self-titled debut LP is set for release on November 6. Where The Mortal Prophets often moved through darker, more haunted spaces, Utopia PKWY feels like a turn towards colour and open air. It is still strange, still carefully built, but the light has changed.

The project takes its name from Utopia Parkway in Queens, long associated with the Surrealist artist Joseph Cornell. That reference suits the music well. Beckmann seems drawn to the idea of small private worlds, made from fragments: pop memory, odd textures, suburban light, old keyboards, dream logic and the slightly damaged charm of things that do not quite fit together.

For Utopia PKWY, Beckmann steps away from lead vocals and brings in Tanner McGraw, with Lawson Mars on backing vocals. That shift gives the songs a different centre. ‘I Knew You Would Be Trouble’ introduces the project as something melodic and immediate, but still carrying Beckmann’s taste for warped detail and cinematic atmosphere.

The album is described as brighter and more forward-moving than much of his previous work, with traces of psychedelic pop, dream-pop, synth-wave and vintage futurism running through it. There are theremin-like tones, trippy sitars, chrome-coloured keyboards and hooks that feel slightly bent at the edges.

It is not a clean break from The Mortal Prophets so much as another room in the same house: less shadow, more colour, and a bit more daylight coming through the curtains.

‘I Knew You Would Be Trouble’ is out July 3. ‘Utopia PKWY’ follows November 6.