Music Review

I’m New Here

Album | Gil Scott-Heron
By Jim Allen

Jazz poet takes an electronic deep-groove approach

After spending years below the radar amid drug problems, prison stints, and failed rehab attempts, Gil Scott-Heron has pulled himself up out of his personal hell at least long enough to finish his first album of new material in 16 years. And while every inch of the hard road he's traveled can be heard in his rough, ragged voice, his close-to-the-bone emotional statements on I'm New Here feel all the more powerful because of it. Produced by XL Recordings founder Richard Russell, the album leaves the funky, organic soul-jazz of the vocalist's salad days behind in favor of an electronic trip-hop/deep-groove approach a la Massive Attack's recent work with Terry Callier. Scott-Heron's spoken-word pieces mesh well with the format, and covers of Robert Johnson's "Me and the Devil Blues" and the Bobby "Blue" Bland staple "I'll Take Care of You" have an agreeably left-field vibe in this context, while the anomalous acoustic-guitar-based title track, a ballad about transcending dark times, could bring a tear to the eye of the most hardened cynic, especially when that worn voice rumbles out "No matter how far wrong you've gone, you can always turn around."

TAGS: Comeback, Electronica, Jazz, Poetry, R&B, Soul Jazz, Spoken Word, Trip-hop,

FACTS: Released: February 09, 2010 (XL Recordings)

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