Charles Bradley

Charles Bradley’s Changes is the kind of soul record that reminds you why vinyl still matters. Released on Dunham/Daptone, this 2016 album wraps Bradley’s sandpaper-raw voice around deep Southern soul, gospel feeling, aching balladry and hard-earned truth. The title track, famously a Black Sabbath cover transformed into a heartbreaking soul testimony, says everything about Bradley’s gift: he could take any song and make it sound like lived experience. Backed by rich arrangements, tight rhythm sections and that unmistakable Daptone warmth, Changes moves between pleading slow-burners and gritty funk-soul grooves. For collectors of Sharon Jones, Otis Redding, Lee Fields or classic deep soul, this LP is essential: passionate, human, and cut with the kind of analog character that makes every spin feel immediate.