With his 61st birthday just around the corner, spoken word/proto-rap/soul icon Gil Scott-Heron returns to the recorded music scene over being absent from it for well over a decade. However, this is not the exact Scott-Heron of yesteryear whose musical foundation was that of soul/funk. Instead, on I'm New Here Scott-Heron (with the help of XL Recordings owner Richard Russell) adds his trademark poetry to a new genre: electronica. And the result is a pleasant surprise. Tracks like "Where Did the Night Go" sound like a track off a modern day dubstep album. However, things also get stripped down to bare essentials. The title track is an amazingly gentle, yet gruff, reworking of a Van Morrison song featuring nothing but Scott-Heron and an acoustic guitar. Elsewhere, the best material here is not necessarily the sole responsibility of Scott-Heron's talents; "Me and the Devil" is an interpretation of blues legend Robert Johnson's although the creepy drumbeat and Scott-Heron's tortured voice sound as though Tom Waits decided to rework a track by trip-hop godfather Tricky. Results: awesome. While not an ideal music experience (there are multiple spoken word interludes detailing parenthood, love, and the usual spoken word go-tos), as an album I'm New Here is a refreshing release from a hero to an art form that will no doubt continue to idolize his career (which means it will still be safe for Kanye, Mos Def, Talib, and every other rapper to namedrop him as influences in interviews for the forthcoming years). In fact, Scott-Heron gives a nod to the modern day rap format as the album's intro/outro sample West's "Flashing Lights." Clocking in under the 30-minute barrier, the album runs the gauntlet of sound and thought; and at the end? A reward finish.
4.1/5.0
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