''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 Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American Jazz poetry, jazz poet, singer, musician, and author known for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackso ...

and English music producer

Jamie xx James Thomas Smith (born 28 October 1988), known professionally as Jamie xx, is an English musician, DJ, record producer, and remixer. He is known for both his solo work and as a member of the indie pop band the xx. He has been described as a " ...

, released on February 21, 2011, by

Young Turks The Young Turks (, also ''Genç Türkler'') formed as a constitutionalist broad opposition-movement in the late Ottoman Empire against the absolutist régime of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (). The most powerful organization of the movement, ...

and

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been run and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. It releases an average of six albums a year. T ...

. 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 an ...

''. 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), ...

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 ...

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 and jungle production methods, but also incorporates elements from ...

styles, Jamie xx applied

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

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 the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, on which it spent two weeks. It was promoted with a multi-format release, including a limited edition

box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

, 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,

recorded and released his first album of original material in sixteen years, ''

'' (2010), with the assistance of

-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. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''. 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 The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

styles and social commentary for more personal, reflective lyrics with ruminations on love, loss, and identity, set to contemporary

. 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 magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

. 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 a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band

, proposed the idea of

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ing ''I'm New Here'' to the band's percussionist and producer

.Schnipper, Matthew (November 29, 2010)
Video: Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie XX, “New York is Killing Me”
. ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

''. 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
/nowiki> LP - Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx">inyl">We're New Here - [Vinyl
/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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. 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 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 was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', "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 is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

. 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
. ''

''. Retrieved on 2011-02-24. Akai MPC500

In addition to vocal tracks from ''I'm New Here'', Jamie xx mixed vocals from Scott-Heron's 1970s work. In an interview for

, 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 1937 – 28 March 2021) was a British jazz bassist, record producer, engineer, electronic musician and teacher. 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 ...

work. In remixing the album, Jamie xx incorporated

tones,

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

-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 hea ...

, and

drum 'n' bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre ...

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 publis ...

''. 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 A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat ...

s, and

electro music Electro (also known as electro-funk, and sometimes referred to as electro-pop)
Gl ...

. Dan Hancox of '' The National'' noted in its sound "a melange of creaking bass hums, cascading

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 database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, "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 Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

'' 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
. ''

''. 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, ...

. Retrieved on 2011-03-08. The title track incorporates a sped-up sample of

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), known professionally as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "I Have a Right, Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am (Broadway mus ...

'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 In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then decay as the sound is a ...

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 ...

''.

'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 Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

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

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, specifically 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 specificati ...

, vinyl

, 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 Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

via ''

'' 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 that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

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

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 UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...

. 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 ...

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 in 1995 on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organiz ...

& Hung Medien. Retrieved on 2011-03-13.

Critical reception

''We're New Here'' was met with widespread critical acclaim. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a

normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 83, based on 28 reviews. Reviewing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'',

Ben Ratliff Ben Ratliff (born 1968 in New York City) is an American journalist, music critic and author. Biography 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, ...

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
. ''

''. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.

'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 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 created in ...

'' praised "the everlasting gravity of cott-Heron��s words and wisdom", writing that "his pained, bluesy musings are as universally human as they are perennially pertinent". ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' 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 Headgear, 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 incorpor ...

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, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' 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 ...

'', 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 fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

'', 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 ''

'',

Kitty Empire Kitty Empire (born 1970) is 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 in ...

said, while Jamie xx's productions are "consistently excellent, they aren't really there to augment Scott-Heron's words". Andy Gill of ''

'' believed the remixing techniques "only occasionally work in its favour". At the end of 2011, '' Uncut'' 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 Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

''.

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

. * "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, most ...

. * "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

– vocal producer, vocals *

– additional production, design, musician, remixing *

Malcolm Cecil Malcolm Cecil (9 January 1937 – 28 March 2021) was a British jazz bassist, record producer, engineer, electronic musician and teacher. He was a founding member of a leading UK jazz quintet of the late 1950s, the Jazz Couriers,Romy Madley Croft Romy Madley Croft (born 18 August 1989) who releases solo music as Romy, is an English musician. She is the guitarist and co-vocalist of the xx, and she released a solo album, '' Mid Air'', in 2023, which peaked at No. 15 on the UK Albums Ch ...

– guitar * Royce Jeffries – assistant * Phil Lee – design *

Rodaidh McDonald Roderick William George "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 ...

– engineer, mixing * Ichiho Nishiki – engineer, mixing *

Mandy Parnell Mandy Parnell is a British mastering engineer and founder of Black Saloon Studios in London, England, where she serves as the senior mastering engineer. Parnell has worked on projects with a wide variety of artists, including Aphex Twin, Bjork, ...

– 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

References

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 2011 collaborative albums