Since Chuck Prophet released the bleak masterpiece Homemade Blood in 1997, bringing down the curtain on the alt-country and roots-rock stage of his solo career, his music has come to encompass a dizzying array of styles. Multigenre hybrids like 1999’s The Hurting Business and 2002’s No Other Love nodded to influences as diverse as Bobbie Gentry, Dr. Octagon, Chuck Berry, and Maxine Brown. On Age of Miracles (New West), which comes out this week, Prophet indulges an affection for sweeping pop-soul and funky spaced-out blues. While his lyrics have always been indebted to two-fisted noir proponents like Warren Zevon and cockeyed southern storytellers like Dan Penn, on Miracles their more subtle qualities—wry humor and a keen understanding of women—yield the most satisfying results, as on the cool kiss-off “Pin a Rose on Me” and the supple surrender “You Got Me Where You Want Me.” Elsewhere, Prophet’s laconic baritone gives contemplative tunes like “Solid Gold” and the title track a craggy warmth that few—besides perhaps Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits—could hope to match.