It took Charles Bradley over 60 years to deliver his jaw-dropping debut album, No Time for Dreaming, but thankfully it's only taken two for the Screaming Eagle of Soul to prep a sophomore set. His next LP is titled Victim of Love, and Daptone offshoot Dunham Records delivers the effort April 2.
A press release asserts that the 11-song set continues Bradley's soulful journey, but while his first full-length was marked with some seriously heart-tugging, harrowing tales (i.e., the crushing, biographical "Heartaches and Pain"), a lighter mood pervades Victim of Love. For instance, opener "Strictly Reserved for You" allegedly chronicles a road trip with a sweetie, while the acoustic guitar-driven title track runs with Bradley's admission, "I woke up this morning, I felt your love beside me."
Musically, the LP is apparently a bit of shift as well. Bradley's producer Thomas Brenneck, who also leads the soulful Menahan Street Band, hints that Victim of Love veers from traditional R&B arrangements into psychedelic territory. "People are not going to expect this. There's a lot of psych influences on this record, a lot of fuzz guitar," he said in a statement.
While sound samples have yet to arrive, the album also apparently dabbles in gospel grooves ("Through the Storm") and fittingly features the Menahan Street Band's brass attack ("You Put the Flame on It").
You can check the tracklisting below and the cover art above.
Victim of Love:
1. Strictly Reserved For You
2. You Put The Flame On It
3. Let Love Stand A Chance
4. Victim Of Love
5. Love Bug Blues
6. Dusty Blue
7. Confusion
8. Where Do We Go From Here
9. Crying In The Chapel
10. Hurricane
11. Through The Storm
A press release asserts that the 11-song set continues Bradley's soulful journey, but while his first full-length was marked with some seriously heart-tugging, harrowing tales (i.e., the crushing, biographical "Heartaches and Pain"), a lighter mood pervades Victim of Love. For instance, opener "Strictly Reserved for You" allegedly chronicles a road trip with a sweetie, while the acoustic guitar-driven title track runs with Bradley's admission, "I woke up this morning, I felt your love beside me."
Musically, the LP is apparently a bit of shift as well. Bradley's producer Thomas Brenneck, who also leads the soulful Menahan Street Band, hints that Victim of Love veers from traditional R&B arrangements into psychedelic territory. "People are not going to expect this. There's a lot of psych influences on this record, a lot of fuzz guitar," he said in a statement.
While sound samples have yet to arrive, the album also apparently dabbles in gospel grooves ("Through the Storm") and fittingly features the Menahan Street Band's brass attack ("You Put the Flame on It").
You can check the tracklisting below and the cover art above.
Victim of Love:
1. Strictly Reserved For You
2. You Put The Flame On It
3. Let Love Stand A Chance
4. Victim Of Love
5. Love Bug Blues
6. Dusty Blue
7. Confusion
8. Where Do We Go From Here
9. Crying In The Chapel
10. Hurricane
11. Through The Storm
