The “Screaming Eagle of Soul” Rises Again

Charles Bradley is a man on a mission. Since his debut album, 2011’s No Time For Dreaming, brought him from James Brown impersonator “Black Velvet” to bonafide soulman in his own right, Bradley continues to try and find his voice amid “retro” R&B sound of Stax era style instrumentation with a modern pulse. On his third solo record Changes (released April 1 on Daptone), the lovingly dubbed “Screaming Eagle of Soul” stakes his much deserved claim as an artist inspired by, not indebted to, the past. 

Bradley, 67,  is living testament to never giving up on your dreams. Years of working odd jobs for the sake of financial stability prevented him from gaining the musical stardom he deserved at a young age. On “Ain’t it a Sin,” the album’s standout track, Bradley moans “It’s my turn to loved and be loved/It’s my turn to get out into the world and let my spirit speak.” This line comes across not as one of anger, but one of empowerment, of an artist finally able to speak out and share his craft with a wider audience. In his reworking of Black Sabbath’s 1972 hit “Changes,” originally a Record Store Day release, Bradley lays bare the pain of change felt after the loss of his mother, a sentiment he associated with the song upon his first recording of it several years ago. 

Not all the album’s songs have the same effect. The  Seals and Croft “Summer Breeze” horn acknowledgment cuts through the groove of “Nobody But You” to a cliched and slightly gimmicky result understating song’s raw emotive power. As an artist himself, Bradley is at the constant mercy of change–for good and bad–yet there’s newfound hope on this album not present on his last two releases that rises above the bleakness and despair conveyed through many of the tracks songwriting and arrangments. Much like Bradley’s career itself, Changes is an album of hope.