Chris Prather’s ‘Through Falling Rain’ a dense, diverse musical catch-all

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OKLAHOMA CITY – Have you ever listened to some music (of any kind, really) and thought to yourself “you know what would make this music better? If it was all music at once!”

If so, you’re in luck, because it seems like that same thought went through the mind of OKC-based composer Chris Prather during the multi-year writing, planning, and recording of the shockingly dense, wildly diverse, and wonderfully effective “Through Falling Rain.”

It’s Prather’s first official album release following an array of singles, collaborative projects, a Grammy win, and even a full opera. But this time, he’s pulling out all the stylistic stops (seriously, I don’t think there’s one stop to be found here) and pouring in seemingly every influence and every emotional impulse.

The opening title track sets the wide-reaching stage, shifting from bombastic, orchestral fanfare to something like basement-bar bossa nova, and then exploding into a driving, high-energy rocker that can only be described as anime opening credits music.

But what’s actually more surprising than all the sharp left turns that the track keeps taking is the fact that it all honestly works so well.

It would be easy to assume that such an all-encompassing attempt to capture everything that Prather’s absorbed through his extensive music education and his unique compositional opportunities so far would just end up with a half-hearted, half-realized approximation of each style. But you’d be wrong.

The cinematic orchestrations are as heart-tugging and film-ready as any. The churchlike choral arrangements are as solemn and as powerful as you’ve heard. And all the blazing, adventurous prog-rock is some serious, capital-P “Prog.”

The album feels designed, then, to be a calling card of sorts, like Prather proving to himself (or to potential future collaborators) that not only can he swing his chops at practically any genre or producorial touch, but that he’s clearly excited to.

There are moments of widescreen orchestra, of chugging, symphonic metal, of trancey EDM, and even of post-modern, hip-hop-styled R&B.

But any showcase of compositional skills is still only going to be as good as the musicians collected to perform them, of course.

Luckily, “Through Falling Rain” is absolutely bursting with masterful talent from the highest levels of Oklahoman musicianship and production. Prather claims that over 100 talents graced the record in some form, and it’s a veritable contact list of heavy local hitters.

There’s cello from Tess Remy-schumacher, Yasaman Seif, and Cheyenne McCoy, violin from Patrick Conlon, Dr. Hong Zhu, and Chazlen Rook, some head-spinning drumming from Bill Repavich, and a superstar turn from pianist Jake Johnson, who deconstructs many of the album’s most evocative themes and motifs into a lively, twirling jazz masterclass on piano solo centerpiece “Sparks.”

Vocalist Lorenzo Butler employs his focused tenor as a recurring character throughout, acting like Prather’s voice for the album and providing a general air of optimism when he shows up, especially on closer “Home Again.”

Sometimes Prather even breaks out his own guitar to add a few showstopping flourishes of Herman Li-esque shredding, like on early standout “Remember Tomorrow” which goes full-on Coheed & Cambria with its epic prog propelled on a mazelike rhythmic excursion through 5/4,3/4, 4/4, 6/4, and maybe more (I lost count.)

And yet, for all the impressiveness and beefy compositional flexing, the most effective and lingering moments of “Through Falling Rain” are the simpler sections, the passages where Prather lets the pretense of his compositional skill fall away and lets the real emotional core of the album take centerstage.

That’s because, for all of its genre-hopping and technical grandstanding, “Through Falling Rain” is actually a statement of grief, inspired heavily by Prather’s own emotional journey following the death of someone close, with the album’s musical complexity aiming to capture a bit of the turn-on-a-dime emotional complexity of grieving.

Little surprise, then, that “Eulogy” becomes the highlight and the thematic thesis statement of the full work, a piece of forlorn, melodic longing that grows to the height of compositional catharsis, but with its most sparse and spare and effective moments recalling the loss and the soul-breaking space of “Carrie & Lowell”-era Sufjan.

And that’s why it all works. A compositional demonstration through creative voicings and genre-mashing can be hugely impressive, but it’s not going to stir the heart or move the listener to chills or humming hours later.

For that, you need a composer willing to confront and express something way deeper in his music, something difficult and ineffable and simply real, like the kind of grief that can take years to dig through.

And for that, you need friends, confidants, and true companions.

Fortunately, Prather has about a hundred.

“Through Falling Rain” by Chris Prather is streaming now, with an official album release show featuring many of the players from the record set for Thursday, April 16^th at ACM@UCO.

For more, visit chrisprathermusic.com.

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You can find out about local music and performance happenings in the OKC metro weekly in this music column by Brett Fieldcamp. | Brought to you by True Sky Credit Union.

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