Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires

Funky soul singer Charles Bradley worked as a cook in Maine for 10 years. And that was before he took up residence in California, settling into a life of odd jobs and now-and-then shows for the next 20 years. It wouldn’t be until around 2000 that Bradley’s soaring music career would begin to take off. And even then, it would another decade before he saw the wild levels of success he’s been privy to since cutting his debut album in 2011. With 2013’s Victim of Love, Bradley’s badass Redding-style sound has exploded in every possible direction. “I’ve been calling it ‘New Direction Daptone,’” says bandleader/producer Thomas Brenneck. “People are not going to expect this. There’s a lot of psych influences on this record, a lot of fuzz guitar. I’m pushing the band and the arrangements further out, which in turn has to make Charles go further out.” We couldn’t be more overjoyed with how things are going. “Confusion” is a terrific example of what Brenneck is talking about. Listen to everything Bradley is doing; it’s all gold. (Sandy)