Chuck Prophet - Age of Miracles (Reissue) (2018)

When last we left our hero, the former Green on Red guitarist--one of the most underrated Telecaster players on the planet--was parsing the connections between neo-soul, twangy blues, and Dylanesque rock on 2002's No Other Love, perhaps his best solo album. On this postmodern roots plunge, he swims deeper into pastiche song structures, adding lighter strings, heavier guitar licks, and more restless romanticism. His beats, however, remain as thick as they are organic, his voice occluded in a raspy filter. If the songwriting resonates a bit less fiercely (with the notable exceptions of the title track and the power-poppy "Just to See You Smile"), Prophet continues to make records that sound like none other on the loosely defined alt-country scene--lush, elliptical, inventive, moody, and deeply, even eloquently, grooved.~Roy Kasten