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''We're New Here'' is a
remix album A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson ('' Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 200 ...
by American vocalist Gil Scott-Heron and English music producer Jamie xx, released on February 21, 2011, by Young Turks and
XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six albu ...
. A longtime fan of Scott-Heron, Jamie xx was approached by XL label head Richard Russell to remix Scott-Heron's 2010 studio album ''
I'm New Here ''I'm New Here'' is the 15th and final studio album by American vocalist and pianist Gil Scott-Heron. It was released on February 8, 2010, by XL Recordings and was his first release of original music in 16 years, following a period of personal and ...
''. He worked on the album while touring with his band
The xx The xx are an English indie rock band from Wandsworth, London, formed in 2005. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft (guitar, vocals), Oliver Sim (bass guitar, vocals), Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx (beats, MPC, record production), a ...
in 2010 and occasionally communicated with Scott-Heron through letters for his approval to rework certain material. Incorporating
dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...
and
UK garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house, but also incorporates elements from dance-pop, R&B, and jungle. It ...
styles, Jamie xx applied
electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...
techniques in his production to remix Scott-Heron's vocals from the original album over his own instrumentals. Although it is structured similarly, ''We're New Here'' eschews the original album's stark style and lo-fi production for bass-driven, musically varied production and sonical illumination of Scott-Heron's vocals. It has been noted by music writers for recontextualizing Scott-Heron's narratives in Jamie xx's own musical influences and tastes. The album did not chart in the United States, but debuted at number 33 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
, on which it spent two weeks. It was promoted with a multi-format release, including a limited edition box set, and the release of two singles, "NY Is Killing Me" and "I'll Take Care of U". ''We're New Here'' received universal acclaim from critics upon its release.


Background

Following a period of personal and legal troubles with drug addiction, Gil Scott-Heron recorded and released his first album of original material in sixteen years, ''
I'm New Here ''I'm New Here'' is the 15th and final studio album by American vocalist and pianist Gil Scott-Heron. It was released on February 8, 2010, by XL Recordings and was his first release of original music in 16 years, following a period of personal and ...
'' (2010), with the assistance of
XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six albu ...
-label head Richard Russell.O'Hagan, Sean (February 7, 2010)
Gil Scott-Heron: the godfather of rap comes back
''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
''. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.
Produced by Russell, the album served as a departure from Scott-Heron's earlier work, both musically and thematically, eschewing its
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...
,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
, and funk styles and social commentary for more personal, reflective lyrics with ruminations on love, loss, and identity, set to contemporary
electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...
. It was well received by fans and music critics, who viewed it as a comeback for Scott-Heron.Fitzmaurice, Larry (November 29, 2010)
Forkcast: Gil Scott-Heron, Jamie Smith: "New York Is Killing Me"
Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...
. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.
Empire, Kitty (February 20, 2011)
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx: We're New Here – review
''The Observer''. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.
Russell, a fan of English
indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...
band
The xx The xx are an English indie rock band from Wandsworth, London, formed in 2005. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft (guitar, vocals), Oliver Sim (bass guitar, vocals), Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx (beats, MPC, record production), a ...
, proposed the idea of remixing ''I'm New Here'' to the band's percussionist and producer Jamie xx.Schnipper, Matthew (November 29, 2010)
Video: Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie XX, “New York is Killing Me”
''
The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...
''. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.
Russell's production on ''I'm New Here'' was heavily influenced by the xx's self-titled debut album, which showcased Jamie xx's bassy, beat-oriented and minimalist production.We're_New_Here_-_[Vinyl
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/nowiki> LP - Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx Insound. Retrieved on 2011-07-28.
Cragg, Michael (February 26, 2011)
Jamie xx's remix of Gil-Scott Heron's entire album shows why he's leader of the new production pack
''The Guardian''. Retrieved on 2011-02-25.
After its success, Jamie xx had occupied himself with solo production work, remixing other artists, and DJing in clubs in the United Kingdom and Europe. Jamie xx was a longtime fan of Scott-Heron's music, which had been introduced to him by his parents as a youth.Richter, Mischa (January 28, 2011)
Jamie Smith of the xx on Remixing Gil Scott-Heron, Working With Drake, New Music From the xx
Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.
Russell later said of his decision to enlist him, "We didn't want lots of remixes by different people. That can be confusing. Gil was open to Jamie re-interpreting the whole album". According to Jamie xx, he himself had no point of reference in remixing another artist's album, and later said of taking on the project:


Production

Although Scott-Heron received top-billing for the release, Jamie xx worked solely on the remix project. For ''We're New Here'', he remixed 13 of the original album's 15 songs, including its "interlude" cuts,Michaels, Sean (November 30, 2010)
Jamie from the xx confirms Gil Scott-Heron remix album
''The Guardian''. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.
mixing Scott-Heron's vocal tracks from the original recording sessions over his own beats and instrumentals, rather than the original music.Michaels, Sean (March 5, 2010)
Gil Scott-Heron to get the xx factor
''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.
Many of the remixes were created by Jamie xx on his laptop, while on tour with The xx. He also used an Music Production Center, Akai MPC500 to produce beats for the album. In a March 2010 interview, Jamie xx explained that the label "gave me the parts and let me do whatever I want, so I've been doing it on my laptop on tour. 'monly using il'svocals, I'm not using any of the original music from it, which is very freeing". On his intentions for the album's music, he explained in an interview for ''
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'', "I wanted it to sound like everything I had been listening to in London. I wanted it to sound like something you’d hear on
pirate radio Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially ...
. You hear so many different genres, and it’s all so convoluted and mixed-up, but it makes sense when you turn on the station". Carroll, Jim (February 25, 2011)
The revolution will be remixed
''
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
''. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.
In addition to vocal tracks from ''I'm New Here'', Jamie xx mixed vocals from Scott-Heron's 1970s work. In an interview for
Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...
, he explained his incorporation of these vocals and its meaning to the work as a whole, stating: Although he was permitted by XL to remix ''I'm New Here'', Jamie xx wrote longhand letters to Scott-Heron for his approval to rework the other vocal material: "Originally, I sent him the album and there were a couple of tracks he wasn't sure about. I had to write to him—he does handwritten letters, not e-mail—and explain why I wanted to use some of his older vocal tracks on the album ... So after I wrote him the letter, he said I was free to do whatever because he knew what I was doing". Scott-Heron was credited as a producer for the album, along with Russell and
Malcolm Cecil Malcolm Cecil (9 January 193728 March 2021) was a British jazz bassist, record producer, engineer and electronic musician. He was a founding member of a leading UK jazz quintet of the late 1950s, the Jazz Couriers,
, a producer and engineer on Scott-Heron's past work. The original vocals had been produced and engineered at Clinton Studios and Looking Glass Studios in New York. ''We're New Here'' was mixed at London's XL Studio, where additional recording also took place.


Musical style

Similar to ''I'm New Here'', ''We're New Here'' features 13 songs that include four interludes and is rhythmically stressed in sound. However, it contrasts the original album's stark style and lo-fi production with bass-driven, musically varied production and sonical illumination of Scott-Heron's vocals.Beattie, Ele (February 17, 2011)
BBC - Music - Review of Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx - We're New Here
BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...
. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.
''We're New Here'' is considered a
post-dubstep Post-dubstep is an umbrella term applied to a range of musical styles that have been influenced by the sparse, syncopated rhythms and heavy sub-bass of the UK dubstep scene. The breadth of styles associated with the term post-dubstep precluded i ...
work. In remixing the album, Jamie xx incorporated
dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...
tones, dance-influenced tempos, pitch-shifted and sped-up samples, wobble,
sub-bass Sub-bass sounds are the deep, low-register pitches below approximately 70  Hz (C2 in scientific pitch notation) and extending downward to include the lowest frequency humans can hear, approximately 20 Hz (E0). In this range, human hear ...
, and drum 'n' bass beats into the music.Gill, Andy (February 18, 2011)
Album: Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie XX, We're New Here (XL) - Reviews, Music
''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
''. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.
''We're New Here'' also contains elements of
trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
, house,
techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...
, hip hop breakbeats, and electro music. Dan Hancox of '' The National'' noted in its sound "a melange of creaking bass hums, cascading
UK garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house, but also incorporates elements from dance-pop, R&B, and jungle. It ...
drums and washes of electronic noise".Hancox, Dan (February 21, 2011)
Jamie xx vs Gil Scott-Heron: We're New Here - The National
'' The National''. Retrieved on 2011-03-01.
According to Thom Jurek of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
, "Richard Russell's production on ''I'm New Here'' kept Scott-Heron's voice front and center; amie xxdisplaces it often, all but covering it with effects, beats, and pitched vocals in styles that cross the electronic music gamut". Tim Noakes of '' Dazed & Confused'' describes the album as " islove letter to sample culture and the history of the UK electronic underground. Against amie xxs booming backdrop of sub bass breakdowns, obscure samples and two-step rhythms, Scott-Heron’s scarred poetic missives take on a more sinister edge".Noakes, Tim (February 2011)
Dazed Digital , X-Men: Jamie Smith & Richard Russell
'' Dazed & Confused''. Retrieved on 2011-03-04.
Ian Maleney of '' Slate'' comments on the album's music, "The beats and bass are classic dub ..and the use of stretched and pitched vocal samples cement the albums place in the ever-developing dubstep cannon".Maleney, Ian (February 15, 2011)
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx – We’re New Here - Album Review , State Magazine
'' Slate''. Retrieved on 2011-03-01.
Music critic Max Feldman notes "smothering" bass lines and "robust" beats, and writes that the album performs a "balancing act between the avant-garde end of the dubstep fallout" and "dance-ability".Feldman, Max (March 8, 2011)
Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx: We're New Here < PopMatters
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
. Retrieved on 2011-03-08.
The title track incorporates a sped-up sample of Gloria Gaynor's "Casanova Brown", with an emphasis on the line "I was lonely and naïve" from the sample. "Running" has Scott-Heron's spoken word vocals scattered and repeated. "Ur Soul and Mine" samples the vocals from Rui da Silva's house classic " Touch Me", distorting the vocals in the song's verse, but retaining its refrain. The densely produced "Home" features clattering snares, a heavily
reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abs ...
ed keyboard sample, a
drum loop In music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections can be repeated to create ostinato patterns. Longer sections can also be repeated: for example, a player might loop what they play on an entire verse of a song in order to ...
, and a vocal sample of Scott-Heron singing the line "home is where the hatred is...", taken from the song of the same name from his 1971 album ''
Pieces of a Man ''Pieces of a Man'' is the debut studio album by American poet Gil Scott-Heron. It was recorded in April 1971 at RCA Studios in New York City and released later that year by Flying Dutchman Records. The album followed Scott-Heron's debut live a ...
''.
BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...
's Ele Beattie said that Jamie xx's sampling "tunes the listener in and out of his musical predecessors. He rewires a personal musical canon into something utterly contemporary". Robert Christgau characterizes Scott-Heron's original narratives as those of "a drug fiend of considerable perversity and tremendous intelligence who's gonna be dead soon", and comments that Jamie xx "hears in cott-Heron'slast testament an irreversible disintegration that he translates into heavily sampled minimalist electro marked indelibly by Scott-Heron's weariness, arrogance, and wit."


Release and promotion

''We're New Here'' was released by Young Turks and XL Recordings on February 21, 2011, in the United Kingdom, and on February 22, 2011, in the United States. It was released on multiple formats, including CD,
vinyl LP The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of   rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...
, vinyl box set, and digital download.Staff (November 29, 2010)
The xx's Jamie Smith's reworked Gil Scott-Heron album out in February
''NME''. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.
Its limited edition box set release was made available via the album's official website and included the LP on pink heavyweight vinyl, an LP of instrumentals on green heavyweight vinyl, CDs of both the standard and instrumental album, and two photographic prints. Prior to its release, ''We're New Here'' had been made available for streaming via ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' website on February 14. The album's first single, "NY Is Killing Me", was released digitally on November 30, 2010, and on January 10, 2011, as a limited edition one-sided 12-inch single. Sean Michaels of ''The Guardian'' wrote of the song, "Ghostly samples rise around Scott-Heron's vocals, combining the poet's inner-city canvas with amie xxs dubstep roots. It's as good as anything the DJ has produced". The second single "I'll Take Care of U" was released on January 6, 2011. It features euphoric, house-inspired piano hooks and echoing guitar riffs. A
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
for the single was directed by photographer Jamie-James Medina and AG Rojas, and it was released on March 4, 2011.Fitzmaurice, Larry (March 4, 2011)
Watch: New Vids From Gil Scott-Heron/Jamie xx, My Brightest Diamond, Architecture in Helsinki
Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2011-03-04.
Set in New York City, the video's plot follows a female boxer as she takes care of her child and trains for a fight. ''We're New Here'' debuted at number 33 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
in the week ending March 5, 2011.Archive Chart – Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive: 5th March 2011
The Official UK Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...
. Retrieved on 2011-03-02.
It also entered at number four on the
UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rel ...
and at number 18 on the Digital Chart.Archive Chart – Top 40 Independent Albums Archive: 5th March 2011
The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved on 2011-03-02.
The album dropped to number 60 on the UK Albums Chart in its second week, and fell off the chart in its third week of release. ''We're New Here'' did not chart in the United States. In Belgium, the album debuted at number 44 and subsequently spent five weeks on the Ultratop 50 Albums chart.ultratop.be - Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx - We're New Here
ULTRATOP Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization ...
& Hung Medien. Retrieved on 2011-03-13.


Critical reception

''We're New Here'' was met with widespread critical acclaim. At
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an
average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...
score of 83, based on 28 reviews. Reviewing for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'',
Ben Ratliff Ben Ratliff (born 1968 in New York City) is an American journalist, music critic and author. Ratliff is the son of an English mother and an American father, growing up in London and in Rockland County, New York. From 1996 to 2016, he wrote a ...
said the album is an improvement over "the bummed-out original" with "patience and breadth and almost zero pretension".Ratliff, Ben (February 21, 2011)
CD’s From Hayes Carll, and Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx - NYTimes.com
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
's Thom Jurek called it "a mercurial collaboration ... full of nods to other club styles and eras", and praised Jamie xx for "successfully (re)presenting Scott-Heron's music — integrity intact — in the present tense to a fickle yet discerning groove-centric culture without kitsch or excess". Chris Martins from ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' praised "the everlasting gravity of cott-Herons words and wisdom", writing that "his pained, bluesy musings are as universally human as they are perennially pertinent". ''
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'' critic Sean Fennessey commended Jamie xx for being bold with Scott-Heron's material with a "finicky, hard-charging production
hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
trumps Scott-Heron's voice, overpowering it with ideas, if not focus". Louise Brailey of ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' wrote that he "coaxes fresh narratives from the source material" and that it "isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it showcases a producer so in love with the music of now that he not only preserves the power of his source material, but makes it more relevant". In ''
MSN Music ''MSN Music'' was a part of MSN's web services. It delivered music news, music videos, spotlights on new music, artist information, and live performances of artists. The website also served as a digital music store from 2004 to 2008. History I ...
'', Christgau called the record "a young man's bad dream about mortality, and of interest as such", and wrote of the source material's importance to Jamie xx's remix, "the snatches of Scott-Heron's voice, cracked for sure but deeper than night nonetheless, delivers it from callow generalization and foregone conclusion." In ''
The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...
'', Joe Muggs found the recontextualization of Scott-Heron's words "impressionistic", and concluded, "there's a great danger in finding beauty in suffering, but this album takes that risk and reaps great dividends." Some reviewers were more qualified in their praise. In ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'',
Kitty Empire Kitty Empire is the pen name of a British writer and music critic, currently writing for ''The Observer''. Early life Empire says that she was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1970 and brought up in Canada, Italy and Egypt before arriving in Britain ...
said, while Jamie xx's productions are "consistently excellent, they aren't really there to augment Scott-Heron's words". Andy Gill of ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' believed the remixing techniques "only occasionally work in its favour". At the end of 2011, ''
Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...
'' magazine named ''We're New Here'' the 32nd best album of the year. Christgau ranked it 20th on his list of the year's best albums for '' The Barnes & Noble Review''.


Track listing

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.


Sample credits

* "I'm New Here" contains a sample of the recording "Casanova Brown" as performed by Gloria Gaynor. * "I've Been Me (Interlude)" contains a sample of "Boxcar Hobo" by Sassafrass. * "Certain Things (Interlude)" contains a sample of the recording "Slaves" as performed by Giuliano Sorgini. * "The Crutch" contains excerpts from "That's How Heartaches Are Made" as performed by
Baby Washington Justine Washington (born October 13, 1940), usually credited as Baby Washington, but credited on some early records as Jeanette (Baby) Washington, is an American soul music vocalist, who had 16 '' Billboard'' R&B chart entries in 15 years, mo ...
. * "Ur Soul and Mine" contains a sample of "Touch Me" by Rui da Silva. * "Parents (Interlude)" contains a sample of "Hap'nin'", written by Bernard Purdie. * "Jazz (Interlude)" contains a sample of the recording "Sixty-Eight Ways".


Personnel

* Gil Scott-Heron – vocal producer, vocals * Jamie xx – additional production, design, musician, remixing *
Malcolm Cecil Malcolm Cecil (9 January 193728 March 2021) was a British jazz bassist, record producer, engineer and electronic musician. He was a founding member of a leading UK jazz quintet of the late 1950s, the Jazz Couriers,
– engineer, producer, synthesizer programming * Romy Madley Croft – guitar * Royce Jeffries – assistant * Phil Lee – design *
Rodaidh McDonald Rodaidh McDonald is a Scottish record producer and record company executive. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and currently resides in Los Angeles, California, United States. His production and mixing credits include The xx, King Krule, Adele, ...
– engineer, mixing * Ichiho Nishiki – engineer, mixing * Mandy Parnell – mastering * Mischa Richter – photography * Richard Russell – vocal producer *
Lawson White Lawson White is an American audio engineer, record producer, and percussionist based in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He is also the founder and president of Good Child Music. Lawson White is a former member of So Percussion and Alarm Will So ...
– engineer, mixing


Charts


See also

* "Take Care" (song)


References


Further reading

*


External links

* * {{Authority control 2011 remix albums Albums produced by Jamie xx Gil Scott-Heron albums Jamie xx albums Post-dubstep albums XL Recordings albums Albums produced by Malcolm Cecil Collaborative albums