Charles Bradley - Changes

Year Released: 2016
Genre: Soul / Funk / Deep Soul

Description:

Changes is the third and final studio album by Charles Bradley, released in 2016 on Daptone Records (through its Dunham imprint). Recorded with members of the Menahan Street Band, it represents the culmination of Bradley’s brief yet extraordinary recording career — a deeply emotional work blending classic soul, funk, and raw gospel energy.

Named after his stirring reinterpretation of Black Sabbath’s “Changes”, the album transforms the rock ballad into a soul lament, delivered with aching sincerity and a lifetime’s worth of feeling. Throughout the record, Bradley channels both vulnerability and defiance, moving seamlessly from the reflective tenderness of “Slow Love” and “Crazy for Your Love” to the urgent, socially conscious grooves of “Ain’t It a Sin” and “Change for the World.”

The production retains Daptone’s signature analog warmth: live drums, tight horn sections, and a vintage, unvarnished sound that pays homage to the golden era of Stax and Hi Records while remaining resolutely modern. Each track radiates authenticity — not through nostalgia, but through lived emotion and unfiltered performance.

Changes stands as both a testament and farewell: the final full-length statement from one of soul music’s most compelling late-blooming voices. For fans, DJs, and collectors, it captures the essence of Charles Bradley’s artistry — a man who turned pain into power, and whose music continues to resonate with timeless human truth.

Track Listing:
01. God Bless America
02. Good to Be Back Home
03. Nobody but You
04. Ain’t Gonna Give It Up
05. Changes
06. Ain’t It a Sin
07. Things We Do for Love
08. Crazy for Your Love
09. You Think I Don’t Know (But I Know)
10. Change for the World
11. Slow Love