THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Wake The Dead is California singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer Chuck Prophet‘s collaborative album with Cumbia group ¿Qiensave?
An extraordinary and unlikely pairing, Prophet and ¿Qiensave? blend seamlessly together as the collection dives headfirst into the world of Cumbia, which consumed and comforted Prophet during a recent bout with Stage 4 lymphoma and subsequent recovery. The result is a profoundly adventurous celebration of life that balances hope and fear in equal measure, a rich and exultant meditation on what really matters from an artist who always manages to find the light, even in the face of the most oppressing darkness.
The songs are intoxicatingly rhythmic, all but demanding you move your body while you listen, with arrangements that blur the lines between tradition and innovation, between past and present, between cultures and countries. There are flashes of rock ’n’ roll, punk, surf and soul, all filtered through the streets of San Francisco and wrapped up in the rich legacy of a genre that traces its roots back hundreds of years and thousands of miles.”