Listen to the new Gil Scott-Heron album ‘I’m New Here’
It’s bound to be one of the comebacks of the year: 70′s underground jazz legend Gil Scott-Heron releases his first album in over fifteen years this month after his life descended into chaos and he ended up in jail for drug-related offenses. Best known for seminal classics such as ‘The Bottle’ or ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ -which have inspired generations of soul, acid-jazz and hip-hop musicians - the African-American poet and activist is back with an album produced by XL Recordings owner, Richard Russell. The album is composed of cover versions – originals by Bill Callahan, Robert Johnson and Bobby Bland among them- and short poems backed by carefully chosen samples such as Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights” which opens and closes the album. The finest moments of ‘I’m New Here’ include the first single ‘Me and the Devil’ and the impressively dark, blues-tinged ‘New York is Killing Me’.
