Wake the Dead

San-Franciscan Chuck Prophet teams up with cumbia urbana group ¿Qiensave? from California with roots in Michoacán, Mexico, on Wake the Dead, an unlikely collaboration exploring cumbia. When Prophet and ¿Qiensave? first started jamming, their immediate musical connection (and a massively positive reaction from the crowds) made it clear that an album would be on the cards, and the results live up to that initial excitement. Wake the Dead is inherently cumbia-focused, based on rhythm and groove, but refreshing glimpses of rock’n’roll, punk, surf and soul from Prophet’s side of the interaction make this album different. Prophet makes a fitting comparison with The Clash when musing about the fusion here: “When I was growing up listening to [The Clash’s] flirtations with reggae, the thing I remember most is how the music… made me feel. The more you listened, the more was revealed, but on the most fundamental level, those records just felt good,” and this energy definitely prevails in Wake the Dead.