"The Screaming Eagle of Soul" passed away nearly one year ago, but fans of Charles Bradley will be treated to one last album from the singer.
Black Velvet will get a posthumous release on November 9 via Dunham/Daptone Records. It's available for pre-order here.
The release marks the singer's final — and fourth overall — album, and it features 10 recordings that have not previously appeared on other records.
In addition to unheard original songs, there are also covers of Nirvana's "Stay Away," Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" and Rodriguez's "Slip Away."
It also boasts the title track "Black Velvet," an instrumental with the Menahan Street Band that goes by the same name Bradley used during his time as a James Brown impersonator.
The songs on Black Velvet span Bradley's career, but rather than a rehashed greatest-hits collection, a press release describes it as "a profound exploration through the less-travelled corners of the soulful universe" that Bradley created with his longtime producer and friend Tommy "TNT" Brenneck.
The first song to be unveiled is "I Feel a Change," which has arrived along with a video.
"Horns and organ were recorded later adding a haunting beauty to the otherwise a cappella intro," Brenneck explained in a statement about the song. "The lyrics are 100 percent Charles. Personal yet abstract. Directly from the heart. He truly loved the expression 'going through changes' and this was a few years before we would record our rendition of Sabbath's 'Changes' with the Budos. Sadly Charles never got to hear the finished version of this beautiful song."
Luckily, you can hear if for yourself below. Just scroll past the Black Velvet tracklisting and hit play.
Black Velvet:
1. Can't Fight The Feeling
2. Luv Jones
3. I Feel A Change
4. Slip Away
5. Black Velvet
6. Stay Away
7. Heart Of Gold
8. (I Hope You Find) The Good Life
9. Fly Little Girl
10. Victim Of Love (Electric Version)
Black Velvet will get a posthumous release on November 9 via Dunham/Daptone Records. It's available for pre-order here.
The release marks the singer's final — and fourth overall — album, and it features 10 recordings that have not previously appeared on other records.
In addition to unheard original songs, there are also covers of Nirvana's "Stay Away," Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" and Rodriguez's "Slip Away."
It also boasts the title track "Black Velvet," an instrumental with the Menahan Street Band that goes by the same name Bradley used during his time as a James Brown impersonator.
The songs on Black Velvet span Bradley's career, but rather than a rehashed greatest-hits collection, a press release describes it as "a profound exploration through the less-travelled corners of the soulful universe" that Bradley created with his longtime producer and friend Tommy "TNT" Brenneck.
The first song to be unveiled is "I Feel a Change," which has arrived along with a video.
"Horns and organ were recorded later adding a haunting beauty to the otherwise a cappella intro," Brenneck explained in a statement about the song. "The lyrics are 100 percent Charles. Personal yet abstract. Directly from the heart. He truly loved the expression 'going through changes' and this was a few years before we would record our rendition of Sabbath's 'Changes' with the Budos. Sadly Charles never got to hear the finished version of this beautiful song."
Luckily, you can hear if for yourself below. Just scroll past the Black Velvet tracklisting and hit play.
Black Velvet:
1. Can't Fight The Feeling
2. Luv Jones
3. I Feel A Change
4. Slip Away
5. Black Velvet
6. Stay Away
7. Heart Of Gold
8. (I Hope You Find) The Good Life
9. Fly Little Girl
10. Victim Of Love (Electric Version)