Wake The Dead. Chuck Prophet feat. ¿Qiensave?

Chuck Prophet is a veteran of this blog and even the magazine preceding it. Most likely his album 'No Other Love' was the first one to be reviewed in WoNo Magazine in 2002. My first album though was 1997's 'Homemade Blood'. With Wake The Dead, the now 61 year old Prophet does something surprising. He worked with Cumbia band ¿Qiensave?. It leads to a surprising and fresh-sounding Latin injection into his music.

Expect typical percussion, guitars and a harmonica or two that liven up the typical and a few untypical Chuck Prophet songs. With his voice that always seems on the verge of a cold and/or a tear, yet sounds so sympathetic, he leads the way on Wake The Dead. If anything the music on the album wakes up respectfully only. Prophet manages to lead the way with his voice.

Although I do not have one single Chuck Prophet album that I rank among my favourites, I like nearly all of them more than just average. The one more than the other but all have several songs on them very much worthwhile. Leader of the pack is the song about Jesus as just a regular nice guy, 'Jesus Was A Social Drinker'. When I get to know Wake The Dead better, there will be several favourites added to my list of Prophet faves.

At this point in time, I am at the stage where I notice how utterly sympathetic this album is. It is light at heart and that may be surprising seen in the light of the health issues the singer-songwriter faced in recent years. This did not translate into darkness, more the opposite. This is translated in the sound of the new album. It is light, with hints at the typical melancholy coming with the sound of his voice. The bounce in Prophet's step is lighter it seems to me, embracing the option he was handed to make this album. And perhaps the added value of ¿Qiensave??

Photo: Kory Thibeault

The latter is a band of people of Mexican descent living in Salinas, California, that has its own career in music. During his illness Prophet came to love (old) Latin music and discovered ¿Qiensave?. He truly liked their music and when recovered sought them out and jammed with them. The rest is history.

A song like 'Sally Was A Cop', followed by the line "now she is a soldier", rocks more than most others on Wake Up The Dead. What gets me, is the subtlety with which the band rocks, with a latin rasp device in the background. I would not describe it as a typical Prophet song. Far from even. It is simply made in such good taste and sounds so good. The guitar work is simply beautiful, as is the vocal melody. It is quite obvious which song on Wake The Dead could come out on top. It's a big favourite already.

The words good taste is the word that describes the whole of the album best. Overall Wake The Dead may be one of Chuck Prophet's most modest albums. It stands out the more because of it, is the impression it gives me. Already it is working its way into the list of my most favourite ones. And that is quite something in a solo career that spans well more than 30 years. Don't get fooled by age folks. This album is another point of prove that songwriting can be a lifelong, successful and satisfying career.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

You can listen to and order Wake The Dead here:

https://chuckprophet.bandcamp.com/album/wake-the-dead