No Time for Dreaming
Charles Bradley
soulBradley came to this late and you can feel both the lifetime of waiting and the absolute release of it in every note — the voice is raw in a way that feels almost involuntary, like something that could not stay inside any longer. The Menahan Street Band production sits in that cracked Daptone mold but Bradley's gospel-inflected delivery pulls it away from pastiche into something genuinely moving. 'The World (Is Going Up in Flames)' and 'Lovin' You Baby' hit back-to-back in a way that makes the first half of the album nearly perfect.
