We're New Here

in 2009 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. 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. It was well received by fans and music critics, 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. 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. 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. 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 ==

in 2015 Although Scott-Heron received top-billing for the release, Jamie xx worked solely on the remix project. mixing Scott-Heron's vocal tracks from the original recording sessions over his own beats and instrumentals, rather than the original music. 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". In addition to vocal tracks from ''I'm New Here'', Jamie xx mixed vocals from Scott-Heron's 1970s work. 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. 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. ''We're New Here'' also contains elements of trance, house, techno, hip hop breakbeats, and electro music. 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". 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". 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". 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. 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". == Release and promotion ==

''We're New Here'' was released by Young Turks and XL Recordings on February 21, 2011, in the United Kingdom, and on February 22, 2011, in the United States. 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 via The Guardian'' 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 [Jamie xx]'s dubstep roots. It's as good as anything the DJ has produced". It features euphoric, house-inspired piano hooks and echoing guitar riffs. A music video for the single was directed by photographer Jamie-James Medina and AG Rojas, and it was released on March 4, 2011. 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 UK Albums Chart in the week ending March 5, 2011. It also entered at number four on the UK Indie Chart and at number 18 on the Digital Chart. 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. == Critical reception ==

''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. Reviewing for The New York Times, Ben Ratliff said the album is an improvement over "the bummed-out original" with "patience and breadth and almost zero pretension". AllMusic'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". Pitchfork critic Sean Fennessey commended Jamie xx for being bold with Scott-Heron's material with a "finicky, hard-charging production [that] trumps Scott-Heron's voice, overpowering it with ideas, if not focus". Louise Brailey of NME 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". Some reviewers were more qualified in their praise. In The Observer, Kitty Empire said, while Jamie xx's productions are "consistently excellent, they aren't really there to augment Scott-Heron's words". Christgau ranked it 20th on his list of the year's best albums for The Barnes & Noble Review. == 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 Gloria Gaynor. • "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. • "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 ==

• Gil Scott-Heron – vocal producer, vocals • Jamie xx – additional production, design, musician, remixing • Malcolm Cecil – engineer, producer, synthesizer programming • Romy Madley Croft – guitar • Royce Jeffries – assistant • Phil Lee – design • Rodaidh McDonald – engineer, mixing • Ichiho Nishiki – engineer, mixing • Mandy Parnell – mastering • Mischa Richter – photography • Richard Russell – vocal producer • Lawson White – engineer, mixing ==Charts==