Since the release of Charles Bradley’s latest Long Player – Victim of Love - the phrase (coined by Dunham Records’ guitar slinging (co) Head-Honcho Tommy ‘TNT’ Brenneck) ‘New Direction Daptone’ has been thrown around in various publications as an all encompassing description for the already classic album. Sure, it sounds GREAT - but what does it ACTUALLY mean? Fear not, loyal Daptone and Dunham Heads alike - In an effort to establish a faithful definition to this soulful quandary, the Daptone + Dunham families hunkered down at Bushwick HQ for the better part of 2 weeks and commenced a soulfully, yet heated, summit. The RESULT - This easy to remember formula: DAP + DUN(Psychedelia (-/+Fuzz-Wah)(Rock) – Funk X .30% X TNT (Cuckoo)(Sirens) – (SOUL+Psych)(Raw% X .0087) = New Direction Daptone OK… Ya got us, we don’t know exactly what it means, but our best approximation are these two socially and emotionally charged burners from the pen of Mr. Bradley, and Mr. Brenneck lovingly stamped into wax. Side A: ‘Confusion’, is a psychedelic, fuzz-guitar driven mover that has been a highlight of CB’s recent live performances. Bradley pleads “People got to make a change! Who you gonna trust, before the world turns to dust.” On the flip is ‘Where do we go from Here’, a moody tune whose feel and insistent groove is more akin to ‘70s Hard Rock than previous efforts. Amongst the fuzz-guitar leads, delay, reverb drenched organ, and beastly horns, Mr. Bradley lyrically demands resolve from the problems posed in Confusion. Regardless of classification, there’s no denying the common denominator here is heavy, heavy Soul of the first order!
