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Review
It’s been a long, hard road to redemption for Gil Scott-Heron, the influential musician, poet and author, whose last full-length album, Spirits, was released 16 years ago. In the interim, he’s been in and out of jail on various drug-related offences, his taste for narcotics sapping the creative impulses that once burned so brightly. Scott-Heron’s saviour came in the unlikely shape of XL Records boss Richard Russell – the man responsible for rave classic The Bouncer by Kicks Like a Mule – who offered to produce an album by the singer during his stint in Rikers.
Their collaboration is bookended by a cracked, two-part reminiscence of Scott-Heron’s roots titled On Coming From a Broken Home, which is based around a typically fastidious piece of wordplay. There’s a wonderfully circuitous spectrum of influences at work on the song – Kanye West has sampled Scott-Heron in the past, this track is built from a refrain from the hip hop star’s Flashing Lights, which borrows from a song by Scott-Heron’s peer in the 70s socio-political music scene, Curtis Mayfield.
Scott-Heron has an intuitive way of grasping work written by others and skewing it to fit his own austere worldview. He covers Bobby Bland’s I’ll Take Care of You and Robert Johnson’s Me and the Devil, but the most surprising addition is the title track, a version of a song by downcast indie rockers Smog. Scott-Heron appropriates the piece for his own use, as a way of reintroducing himself to the world (“No matter how far wrong you’ve gone, you can always turn around,” he muses), while also addressing the past (“I had an ego on me the size of Texas. I forget. Does that mean big or small?”).
He continues to dissect the past and realign himself with the present throughout, carefully pouring all his life experience into every syllable and drawing on the triumphs and aberrations that shaped him. Meanwhile, Russell is careful never to intrude, instead using deathly silence and the dolorous thud of treated drum sounds to provide a stark backing. The one shaft of light that pierces a hole through the centre of the record is New York is Killing Me, which approaches something resembling exuberance via the upbeat clop of a handclap-driven beat.
I’m New Here is an unlikely but triumphant return, packed full of sadness, experience and an underlying feeling of someone making peace with their mistakes and regrets. --Nick Neyland
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
77 of 79 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spirits Still Talking to GSH,
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This review is from: I'm New Here (Audio CD)
When Spirits came out it seemed a real comeback - a more stripped down, back to basics (jazz) sound. It was good to hear a GSH album like the earlier ones without the drawn out, overfunked sound of some of the 80's albums. For some reason though he never seemed to play most of the songs of this album in concert.I never thought it'd be 15 years til his next album and the last few years I never thought there would be a new album at all. 'I'm New Here' is a brutal, stark, blast of an album. Like hearing a dead man's last record. I was reminded of American Prayer - there is a ghostly poetry to GSH's vocals here. An aural 'Blood Simple'. Some may not be so keen on this somewhat filmic, voice over, indie style of record, but I think it's an excellent route for GSH in his later years. The aging icon as a source of pre-death wisdom, like Johnny Cash on his American albums. There are not many musical legends still recording. Gil Scott-heron is undoubtedly one of them and this is a brilliant record for a new decade.
33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still Burning Brightly,
By
This review is from: I'm New Here (Audio CD)
Once upon a time Gil Scott Heron was a dangerous man.A visionary, brave and inspirationally dangerous man. Having listened to 'I'm New Here' three times I put on my 1971 vinyl copy of 'Pieces Of A Man' (it's more than a bit scratchy and jumpy now!) to remind myself of just how much of an iconoclast he was. Unafraid to challenge the very foundations of enduring inequality under Richard Nixon's tainted kingdom of deceit and lies, his contribution to the development of black musical culture and its relationship to political challenge and progress was both fearless and uplifting in equal measure. 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' still packs one hell of a punch. A heroically scathing cris de coeur. The last decade seems not to have been a walk in the park for Mr Scott-Heron but here he is once again with a fine collection of new songs, interspersed with reflective poetic interludes. Short and sweet and very moving in its austerely focussed intensity. The voice still commands attention. Deeper now and more than a little rough around the edges but still a unique instrument with an incalculable ability to communicate raw emotion and uncomfortable truths. The contrast between the terrifyingly dark imagery of 'Me and The Devil' and the sweet and tender blues of 'I'll Take Care Of You' could not be greater. This is a reflection of one of his greatest strengths as a songwriter and performer : the ability to juggle hope and despair and to survive the differences. The stripped down incantation 'New York Is Killing Me', with its eerily disembodied electronics, crackling and chaotic percussion and fierce gospel harmonies is as good as anything he has recorded in his long career. The siesmic rhythmic pulse accompanying the distorted vocal treatment of 'The Crutch' creates a unique soundscape within which the stark lyrics deliver an almost Biblically apocalyptic wallop! Richard Russell's uncompromising production brings great understanding and dignity to Mr Scott-Heron's fragile but undiminished powers. The flame still burns brightly! Essential.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Bonus Disc,
By
This review is from: I'm New Here [VINYL] (Vinyl)
I reviewed the album under CD, but, having bought vinyl and CD, I would strongly advise getting the record. The bonus disc is terrific - throaty, soulful versions of 'Home is Where the Hatred is' and 'Winter in America'. In the introduction to the latter, GSH, has a message to the messengers about fitting music and lyrics. Any GSH fan will want these 'live studio versions.' I don't know whether they are available or will be available in other formats, but great to have.The record is also beautifully designed, with extra photos, nice thick sleeve. I know...these are trivial, consumerist features, but, come on, half the fun of the record is to lovingly caress the sleeve and pour over it, like it was a religious artifact. See you at the Festival Hall!
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