Kerry Charles has always thrived in that deliciously confusing space where performance art and personal reflection blur, and his latest single, “Slow Bleeding,” continues that tradition with flair and finesse. The New Jersey-based singer, producer, and falsetto-wielding groove-smith doesn’t just write songs—he crafts sonic scenes that flicker between retro fantasy and raw emotional truth. With an aesthetic that nods to Prince’s sultry swagger, Hall and Oates’s effortless cool, and Steely Dan’s precision, Charles turns every track into a time capsule soaked in velvet and vulnerability.
“Slow Bleeding” isn’t a love song in the traditional sense. It’s more like a meditation on enduring love in an increasingly unlovable world. It’s about finding beauty and stability in a committed partnership while everything else around you feels like it’s unraveling. That tension—between personal contentment and external disillusionment—runs through every synth note and sax phrase, giving the track a bittersweet edge that lingers long after it ends. This isn’t the wide-eyed euphoria of new romance. This is the quiet resilience of love that’s been tested, and stayed standing.
Kerry Charles’s signature falsetto feels even more intimate here, like a whisper delivered from across the couch after a long day, wrapped in the warmth of Rhodes keys and the subtle ache of getting older. He’s backed, as always, by the velvet sax of Max Cudworth, whose phrasing adds both longing and polish, and for this track, they’ve welcomed keyboardist Jake Sherman into the fold. Sherman’s Rhodes work anchors the track in a gentle, nostalgic groove, and his synth solo at the end floats upward like steam from a late-night glass of wine, equal parts dream and exhale.
“Slow Bleeding” feels like the sonic version of peeling off your party clothes and settling into something soft and familiar. It’s groovy, yes, but it’s also incredibly human—laden with the kind of emotional honesty that feels more comforting than flashy. In a time where so much music screams for attention, Charles opts for seduction over spectacle, slow burns over cheap thrills. It’s music for the in-between moments—the early morning aches, the shared glances over dinner, the quiet acceptance that aging with someone you love might just be the most rebellious act of all.
As Charles hinted, this isn’t quite a corny love song, but it’s probably the most sincere he’s ever gotten. And in his hands, sincerity still grooves.
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