GIL SCOTT-HERON – I’m New Here

It’s always great to hear a seasoned musical veteran reflect on his career. But whereas Johnny Cash returned to a stripped-down classic sound, Gil Scott-Heron adapts perfectly with the times on his first album in 15 years, I’m New Here.

As the title may suggest, this is an album of a musician reborn. The music feels fresh and interesting, conjuring obvious comparisons to the xx with hip-hop elements. Throughout the exciting songs, there are interludes of spoken word. Normally, I don’t care for interludes on albums, but here, with pounding beats in the background sampling the likes of Kanye West, Gil Scott-Heron weaves a powerful and fascinating soundscape.

The album takes you on a journey in a way not enough albums do. It’s reflective music, but it also remains eternally cool. Most importantly, though, this album sounds like a musician in love with music. Scott-Heron embraces new and interesting ideas and subsequently makes them his own. As dark and haunting as the themes, ideas, and sounds can be, there exists always an overwhelming sense of an artist excited to express again. And in the end, through this brutal and powerful journey, the album emerges optimistic. It is, in the end, an album of love, of memory, and of fortitude.

Gil Scott-Heron feels like a man finally returned from the depths. He ends the album with a message to his mother, “thank you.” And thank you for an album that feels so relevant, exciting and powerful.

(XL Recordings 304 Hudson Street, 7th Floor, New York, 10013)