I’M NEW HERE
It’s been 13 years since Gil Scott-Heron released “SPIRITS” and in that time Mr. Scott-Heron had all but vanished. On the new album "I'm New Here" Gil is back and with the help of Richard Russell as producer they have released an album that is more than just a “latest” effort. “I’m New Here” is a decided turn away from the mostly outspoken, sometimes outrageous socio-political critic of the external world that had been Gil's stock and trade; instead they turn inward to mine the subculture the internal landscape that is the mind of Gil Scott-Heron. The resulting album is an honest representation of a man that has seen the darkness inside and is here to report it, while at the same time we hear a deeply personal monologue on how to keep what’s important sacrosanct as Gil Dedicates the album to his Grandmother Lillie Scott and the rest of the strong women in his life that were major influences in his personal evolution. The Gil we find today is no less critical of himself then as he had been of Richard Nixon on the poem H2O Watergate Blues. There is a moment where Gil muses that "Being blessed is not just being able to float on air, I’m saying if you gotta’ pay for things you done wrong…Ah, I got a big bill comin’ at the end of the day.” Each part of this confessional and personal album is an invitation to a life that has been LIVED, as Gil puts it on another snippet “Bad things happen to tell you that you been here a lot longer than most people thought you would”. This album of 15 cuts is mercilessly short clocking in at just around 32 minutes and interspersed throughout with pieces of this man, Gil the philosopher, Gil the comedian, Gil the informer and although I feel somehow cheated in the length of this album, I am reminded when I listen to the thoughts and ruminations pouring from this man that it is the depth of what this man has to say that matters not the length. Gone For the most part are the Jazz infused blues numbers that we had come to expect replaced instead for the most part by electronic samplings from Kanye and others. There are a few covers done here, some with outstanding results. "Me and the Devil" a Robert Johnson song redone into a throbbing rush of power and authenticity, this song is sung with the conviction of a man who knows when his time comes that he will have HELL to pay. There is also a version of Brook Benton's "I'll take care of you" that sounds like a man who believes his salvation lies in the arms of a woman if he can only convince her that he is worth it. The song "I'm new here” is a Spoon cover that is a distinct departure from the past if you are familiar with Gil's song catalog you would be hard pressed to name a song that had just Gil on vocals and an acoustic guitar. Much of the rest of the songs/Poems on this album were written by Gil and Richard Russell. In short this is a Gil Scott-Heron album, it astounds the ears, enlightens the mind and touches the heart. Coming from a man who once said that he "believed in his convictions and was convicted for his beliefs" to a man who now finds himself in the end game and struggling with the most personal of judges, his own conscience. Want to find Gil? His email address is poetic justice. missmitoo@verizon.net.
