Unsurprisingly, over the past couple of years, Brooklyn-based soul singer, Charles Bradley has not only become a JOVM mainstay, the “Screaming Eagle of Soul” has become a national and international sensation with the release of a documentary about his life, Charles Bradley: Soul of America and with the release of his critically praised (and excellent) first two albums, No Time For Dreaming and Victim of Love. Bradley has also developed a reputation for an incredibly heartfelt and powerful live show that has lead him to playing Bonnaroo, Coachella, Glastonbury, Primavera Sound Festival, The Apollo Theater, The Beacon Theatre and countless other venues of adoring fans across the globe.
April 1 2016 will mark the release of Bradley’s third full-length album Changes named after his popular and achingly soulful cover of Black Sabbath‘s “Changes” with Daptone Records labelmates The Budos Band, which was initially released as a Record Store Day 45 a couple of years ago. And with the forthcoming release of Changes, it’ll mark the first time that Bradley’s rendition of the song will be available digitally, as it’ll also appear on the album. The album’s second single “Change For The World” is Bradley’s desperately heartfelt and earnest plea to the listener that we need to stop hiding behind hate, divisiveness and religion and learn how to truly love one another with open hearts, minds and arms. I suspect that most of us would feel that he’s right — and that maybe it’s time to really start changing our world for the better.
The recently released music video for “Change For The World” captures the politically charge tone and tenor of our time as footage of protests, riots and political figures are superimposed over Bradley, his backing band including backing vocalists and a dancer doing their thing. And although the video is psychedelia-tinged, it manages to emphasize the perilous condition that civilization finds itself in right now.