We're New Here is a remix album by American vocalist Gil Scott-Heron and English music producer Jamie xx, released on February 21, 2011, by Young Turks and XL Recordings. 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. He worked on the album while touring with his band The xx in 2010 and occasionally communicated with Scott-Heron through letters for his approval to rework certain material.
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Incorporating dubstep and UK garage styles, Jamie xx applied electronic 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, 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.
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 (2010), with the assistance of XL Recordings-label head Richard Russell.[1] Produced by Russell, the album served as a departure from Scott-Heron's earlier work, both musically and thematically, eschewing its soul, jazz, and funk styles and social commentary for more personal, reflective lyrics with ruminations on love, loss, and identity, set to contemporary electronic music.[1][2] It was well received by fans and music critics,[3] who viewed it as a comeback for Scott-Heron.[1][4][5]
Russell, a fan of English indie pop band The xx, proposed the idea of remixing I'm New Here to the band's percussionist and producer Jamie xx.[6][7] Russell's production on I'm New Here was heavily influenced by the xx's self-titled debut album,[8] which showcased Jamie xx's bassy, beat-oriented and minimalist production.[3][9][10] 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.[7][9]
Jamie xx was a longtime fan of Scott-Heron's music, which had been introduced to him by his parents as a youth.[5][11] 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".[12] According to Jamie xx, he himself had no point of reference in remixing another artist's album,[13] and later said of taking on the project:
Although Scott-Heron received top-billing for the release, Jamie xx worked solely on the remix project.[5] For We're New Here, he remixed 13 of the original album's 15 songs, including its "interlude" cuts,[9] mixing Scott-Heron's vocal tracks from the original recording sessions over his own beats and instrumentals, rather than the original music.[14][11] Many of the remixes were created by Jamie xx on his laptop, while on tour with The xx.[9] He also used an Akai MPC500 to produce beats for the album.[15]
I wanted to show the difference between him then and now as well as the difference between my taste then and now. The songs that use his voice from older records are influenced by the stuff I liked 10 or 15 years ago, mostly sample-based productions like RJD2. And I wanted the album to explain itself, like a DJ set. I wanted to represent Gil well, but also use his voice as my own.[11]
Similar to I'm New Here, We're New Here features 13 songs that include four interludes and is rhythmically stressed in sound.[7] 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.[21][22][23] We're New Here is considered a post-dubstep work.[24] In remixing the album, Jamie xx incorporated dubstep tones, dance-influenced tempos, pitch-shifted and sped-up samples, wobble, sub-bass, and drum 'n' bass beats into the music.[23][25][26][27] We're New Here also contains elements of trance, house, techno, hip hop breakbeats, and electro music.[7][8][28] Dan Hancox of The National noted in its sound "a melange of creaking bass hums, cascading UK garage drums and washes of electronic noise".[29]
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.[31] "Running" has Scott-Heron's spoken word vocals scattered and repeated.[23] "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.[31] The densely produced "Home" features clattering snares,[31] a heavily reverbed keyboard sample, a drum loop, and a vocal sample of Scott-Heron singing the line "home is where the hatred is...",[7] taken from the song of the same name from his 1971 album Pieces of a Man.[32] BBC Online'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".[22] 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 [Scott-Heron's] last testament an irreversible disintegration that he translates into heavily sampled minimalist electro marked indelibly by Scott-Heron's weariness, arrogance, and wit."[33]
We're New Here was released by Young Turks and XL Recordings on February 21, 2011, in the United Kingdom,[34] and on February 22, 2011, in the United States.[4] It was released on multiple formats, including CD, vinyl LP, vinyl box set, and digital download.[35] 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.[36] Prior to its release, We're New Here had been made available for streaming via The Guardian website on February 14.[37]
The album's first single, "NY Is Killing Me", was released digitally on November 30, 2010,[38] and on January 10, 2011, as a limited edition one-sided 12-inch single.[39] 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 [Jamie xx]'s dubstep roots. It's as good as anything the DJ has produced".[9] The second single "I'll Take Care of U" was released on January 6, 2011.[40] It features euphoric, house-inspired piano hooks and echoing guitar riffs.[41] A music video for the single was directed by photographer Jamie-James Medina and AG Rojas, and it was released on March 4, 2011.[42] 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.[42][43]
We're New Here debuted at number 33 on the UK Albums Chart in the week ending March 5, 2011.[44] It also entered at number four on the UK Indie Chart and at number 18 on the Digital Chart.[45][46] The album dropped to number 60 on the UK Albums Chart in its second week,[47] and fell off the chart in its third week of release.[48] We're New Here did not chart in the United States.[49] In Belgium, the album debuted at number 44 and subsequently spent five weeks on the Ultratop 50 Albums chart.[50]
We're New Here was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 83, based on 28 reviews.[52]
At the end of 2011, Uncut magazine named We're New Here the 32nd best album of the year.[58] Christgau ranked it 20th on his list of the year's best albums for The Barnes & Noble Review.[59] 2ff7e9595c
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