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.
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.
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 (2010), with the assistance of XL Recordings-label head Richard Russell.O'Hagan, Sean (February 7, 2010). Gil Scott-Heron: the godfather of rap comes back . The Observer. 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, jazz, and funk styles and social commentary for more personal, reflective lyrics with ruminations on love, loss, and identity, set to contemporary electronic music.Brown, August (December 9, 2010). A first listen to Gil Scott-Heron's 'I'm New Here' | Pop & Hiss . Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2011-02-24. 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. 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 band The xx, 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. 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] 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".Paine, Jake (February 16, 2011). Gil Scott Heron & Jamie xx Offer Free Stream Of "We're New Here" . HipHopDX. Retrieved on 2011-02-25. 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. 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. [I'm] only using [Gil's] vocals, 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, "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. 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. 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, 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, 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. Retrieved on 2011-02-24. We're New Here is considered a post-dubstep work. 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.Gill, Andy (February 18, 2011). Album: Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie XX, We're New Here (XL) - Reviews, Music . The Independent. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.Salter, Greg (February 23, 2011). Blog Archive » Gil Scott Heron and Jamie XX – We’re New Here . Muso's Guide. Retrieved on 2011-02-24. We're New Here also contains elements of trance, house, techno, hip hop breakbeats, and electro music. Dan Hancox of The National noted in its sound "a melange of creaking bass hums, cascading UK garage 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, "Richard Russell's production on I'm New Here kept Scott-Heron's voice front and center; [Jamie xx] displaces 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 "[his] love letter to sample culture and the history of the UK electronic underground. Against [Jamie xx]'s 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. 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 reverbed keyboard sample, a drum loop, 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.Quickfall, Tom (February 16, 2011). Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie XX – We’re New Here (XL Recordings) | hyponik . Hyponik. Retrieved on 2011-03-01. 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". 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."
Release and promotion We're New Here was released by Young Turks and XL Recordings on February 21, 2011, in the United Kingdom,Staff (February 21, 2011). This Week's Releases: 21 February 2011 . NME. Retrieved on 2011-02-24. and on February 22, 2011, in the United States. It was released on multiple formats, including CD, vinyl LP, 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.Pre-Order - We're New Here. werenewhere.com. Archived from the original on 2011-03-02. Prior to its release, We're New Here had been made available for streaming via The Guardian website on February 14.Staff (February 14, 2011). New album stream: Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx – We're New Here . The Guardian. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.