By shelz.

Gil Scott-Heron was the coolest of the 70’s revolutionary iconoclasts. His pride and disdain for the powers that be resonated through a generation of thoughtful listeners who were ready for change.  Very little was taboo as he railed against a society he believed was intent on castrating the black community’s intellect and forward progress.  Then he slipped into the abyss, absorbed by many of the horrific constructs he once rallied against. That was almost 20 years ago.

However, an unexpected yet welcome project from Heron with XL Records head, Richard Russell is upon us. If you were wanting I’m New Here to pick up in the brash and unapologetic lane of black rage Heron was traveling in when he became the victim of a hard, fast life you will be disappointed though.

I’m New Here is a study in redemption.  It’s a slow, gloomy ride to hell and back narrated in first person by the traveler.  Heron bookends the scattered collection of original spoken word, cover songs and snippets of conversations with childhood reflections set to a loop of the atmospheric intro of Kanye’s “Flashing Lights.” It almost sounds like he is absolving his elders of any responsibility for his missteps, the drug addiction and multiple incarcerations.  Heron accepts his fate, he accepts his liability and he does so with unadulterated candor.  You may not like this album, but you have to respect it.

The covers are drawn from numerous genres and time frames.  However, they all fall in place within the story Heron is telling. Robert Johnson’s “Me and The Devil” is a murky electro blues track filled with Heron’s powerful but eroded voice.  The song is painful in its chronicling of a rock bottom so sinister that Satan had to be pulling the strings.   Then in an odd flip, Heron moves onto Smog’s “I’m New Here.”  The title track tackles the elusive second chance and provides a line of optimism that was missing from the previous track.

“Your Soul and Mine” is a cover of Heron’s own song “The Vulture.” It’s a harsh indictment of the evils that dwell in and destroy the soul of the ghetto.  Heron’s matter of fact tone speaks to his connection to the words.  It’s obvious this is his truth and it’s raw and brutal. Russell scales back the electro elements and trades them for piano and sparse strings on “I’ll Take Care of You.”  Heron takes Bobby “Blue” Bland’s standard and turns it into strange irony as you wonder how someone so remiss in his responsibility to himself could take care of anyone else.  Or maybe he is singing to himself.  Heron shares his overnight insomnia hazed thoughts in “Where Did the Night Go,” addresses the pointlessness of running from problems that will only reappear when you stop to catch your breath in “Running,” and gives a raw interpretation of addiction in “Crutch.”

His ode to New York “New York is Killing Me,” breaks the string of the spoken word phenomenally.   The track is a blues-electro hybrid that claps, rattles and hums underneath Heron’s yin to Jay-Z’s yang.  It’s still bright lights and big dreams but to that Heron adds the dark side in a tribute to a city that can enable the worst offenders of vice like no other.

There are many who see I’m New Here as a comeback, but this album is much more than that. The man who some folks believe is the Godfather of Rap, brings a raw, self-deprecating honesty to this LP that we normally do not see in the genus he allegedly had a hand in creating. His voice is cracked and worn, but he still manages to power through each song and he draws a powerfully sad, but mesmerizing picture of what can happen if the shady side of life catches you slipping.  It’s not what any of us expected from Gil Scott-Heron, but I’m sure he and his fans are glad he did it.

Out of 5

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