ALWAYSBACK

6360 - CHUCK PROPHET - Soap & Water (2007)

CHUCK PROPHET
''SOAP & WATER''
OCTOBER 2 2007
50:39

1 - Freckle Song/3:35
2 - Would You Love Me/6:04
3 - Doubter Out of Jesus (All Over You)/4:08
4 - Soap And Water/3:45
5 - Small-Town Girl/2:58
6 - A Woman's Voice/6:41
7 - Let's Something Wrong/4:09
8 - I Can Feel Heart Beat/3:18
9 - Talkin' New Kingdom/5:01
10 - Naked Ray/4:11
11 - Downtime/2:24
12 - Happy Ending/3:54
All Tracks By Prophet

Tom Ayres /Guitar
Jim Bogios /Drums
Chris Carmichael /Strings
Ralph Carney /Horn
Stephanie Finch /Vocals
Aidan Hawken /Keyboards
Jim Hoke /Horn
Brad Jones /Bass, Producer
Chuck Prophet /Guitar, Producer, Vocals
Todd Roper /Drums
Kelley Stoltz /Vocals
Vine Street Christian Church Children's Choir /Vocals

REVIEW
By Jo-Ann Greene

Chuck Prophet began his musical career with the genre-defying group Green on Red, and since their demise, the now solo singer/songwriter/producer continues to duck all attempts at categorization. Soap and Water continues to muddy the waters, but in the most sublime of ways. Much of the set revolves around the blues or R&B, from the swampy sounds of "A Woman's Voice" to the jazzy, finger-snapping "Downtime," the porch-picking blues of "Small-Town Girl," and the Rolling Stonesy R&B riff that powers "Freckle Song." But other influences are equally strong, like the twist of the Beatles that's dashed across "Would You Love Me," the surge of new wave that splashes over "I Can Feel Your Heartbeat" (a song that's the bastard child of the Cars and Mink DeVille), and the post-punk aura that throws shadows across "Doubter Out of Jesus (All Over You)." Invariably, though, the arrangements smudge up the styles, abetted by keyboardist Aidan Hawken, who often counterpoints the guitars with an entirely different genre, conjuring up lavish atmospheres and haunting auras along the way. It's all subtly done, with the productions creating a dreamy, magical quality to the entire set; there is brilliant work from Prophet and co-producer Brad Jones. The many dappled, introspective atmospheres beautifully showcase Prophet's lyrics and themes. Some of the numbers are exquisitely etched vignettes revolving around relationships; others are more fragmentary. "Naked Ray," for example, plops listeners into the center of a sticky situation, like tuning in at the middle of a soap opera. Some omit the back story; a few sketch in just enough details to whet your appetite for more; and others force fans to pen their own "Happy Ending." A master of the metaphor and inventor of brilliant analogies, Prophet knows how to turn a phrase to his advantage or inside out. With a beautifully understated wit, the songwriter amazes with his words and enchants with his music. A lavishly crafted album that one wants to bathe in forever.

BIOGRAPHY
By Denise Sullivan

Chuck Prophet hit the road straight out of high school in the '80s with the psychedelic roots band Green on Red and never looked back. In addition to working as a singer/songwriter, guitarist, bandleader, and musical collaborator with artists as diverse as Cake, Kim Carnes, Solomon Burke, and Alejandro Escovedo, Prophet's deepening solo catalog of self-produced "sideways" roots rock has steadily become his calling card.

Born in the Southern California suburb of Whittier, the San Francisco-based Prophet made his debut as a solo artist in 1990 with Brother Aldo (Fire Records); one U.K. music paper called its collision of lo-fi and country "As close to the genuine article as a white boy can get." Developing his style over the course of seven albums, including Balinese Dancer (1993) and Feast of Hearts (1995), Prophet hit his stride with his gritty meditation on suburbia, Homemade Blood (Hightone, 1997) followed by the studio-tweaked and poetic The Hurting Business (Hightone, 1998) and the streetwise epic No Other Love (New West, 2002) which sparked the radio hit "Summertime Thing" (the title track was covered by Heart). His 2004 release, Age of Miracles (New West), marries vintage with state-of-the-art studio technique while never compromising its raw roots foundation. Soap and Water (Yep Roc, 2007) barges through rock's barriers with a helping of swamp and hip-hop. Between albums, Kelly Willis and Boz Scaggs, among others, have laid down versions of Prophet's songs while his guitar tracks show up on recordings from Warren Zevon, Lucinda Williams, and Jewel. In 2005-2006, Green on Red reunited for a series of shows. Prophet continued to perform as a solo artist and with his band, the Mission Express, featuring his wife Stephanie Finch, on keyboards and vocals, and released Dreaming Waylon's Dreams in 2007, following it with a political solo album, Let Freedom Ring, in 2009. The fascinating and ambitious Temple Beautiful, a concept album that tackles a sort of alternative history of Prophet's adopted San Francisco, arrived early in 2012.