Last year Gil Scott-Heron released one of my most-loved albums of 2010, I’m New Here (Spotify), his first in thirteen years. I was nervous to hear that Jamie xx was going to do a remix of the album entitled We’re New Here (scheduled for release in the UK on 21 February 2011), because I thought Richard Russell’s treatment of Scott-Heron’s reflective spoken-word blues was one of the most impressive and artistic production efforts of 2010.
However, my fears were ungrounded, as the two tracks on the albums webpage show. Track NY Is Killing Me is also on Spotify, and is already a massively impressive track.
Jamie’s interview with Martin Clark (the Blackdown half of dubstep outfit Dusk + Blackdown) was originally intended to be used in the sleeve notes for We’re New Here but, as you can read on Clark’s blog Blackdown Soundboy, the interview hasn’t directly made the sleeve notes, and so he’s put the full interview online. The interview is an intriguing read and heightens my anticipation for the release. Have a read, have a listen!