We're New Here

Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx - We're New Here
Critic Score
Based on 28 reviews
2011 Ratings: #128 / 1031
User Score
Based on 259 ratings
2011 Rank: #148
Liked by 24 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
A.V. Club

The real triumph of We’re New Here is that it doesn’t feel like an album-length remix.

90
Clash

‘We’re New Here’ is a psychedelic atlas with which we can all sonically voyage upon. A great way to start the year.

83
Entertainment Weekly

Scott-Heron's raspy vocals anchor Smith's spectral diddlings; the results on We're New Here are pleasantly moody.

80
NOW Magazine
It could easily stand on its own without Scott-Heron's raspy vocals, but it's the interplay between his world-weary lyrics and Smith's youthful enthusiasm that makes this an essential companion piece to the original.
80
Mojo
Hip-hop originator meets Mercury-winning button-pusher du jour.
80
Uncut

If I'm New Here was a triumph for Russell and Scott-Heron, We're New Here reveals a maverick production talent in Jamie Smith that his band's records have only hinted at.

80
The Guardian
Throughout, Scott's old-soul narratives are reborn through Smith's atmospheric beats.
80
AllMusic

He accomplishes a difficult task in 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.

80
PopMatters

We’re New Here succeeds because it manages to seamlessly reconcile the different traditions from which it draws.

80
musicOMH

It's that rare thing--a properly fine remix album.

80
Drowned in Sound

While Smith uses this album as an outlet to explore a variety of different styles, importantly he never loses sight of the source material.

78
Pitchfork

There's a go-for-it quality to Smith's production that suggests fearlessness over reverence.

78
Beats Per Minute
Gone are the old voices of the city, the tales of the Wu-Tang and the sense that there is real struggle or strife. Instead it's a heterogeneous mix of international talent devoted less to teaching lessons or passing down wisdom as it is to making twenty-somethings dance.
70
Under the Radar
The result is the best of both artists: Scott-Heron's spine-tingling, cracked timeless spoken word delivery, The xx's thoughtful, well-paced current studio trickery.
70
No Ripcord

While it may not attain the dizzy heights of I'm New Here, Smith's deftness ensures that We're New Here is far more than just a vanity project

70
SPIN

Strength meets strength on this unusual album-length remix, as Smith's skittering beats and ghostly soul divas put Scott-Heron right where he belongs: in the future.

70
NME

‘We’re New Here’ 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.

70
XLR8R

There are moments—quite a few of them—on We’re New Here that are gaspingly pretty and deep, but as a companion piece to the original, there’s an unsettling weirdness.

60
The Independent
It's a dub reimagining that takes the material further out, into a soundscape whose fractured dubstep tones, sped-up samples and drum'n'bass beats only occasionally work in its favour.
60
Prefix
What you read is what you get here: an album full of small Scott-Heron samples bolstered by production from a member of the xx. Nothing more, nothing less.
Andylikesmusic
80

When i got the option to review this album I was so excited. This is my 1st Gil Scott Heron record and I am so impressed!,

This whole album is such a mix of genres that makes it really interesting like Jazz,Rap,Garage just to name a few. This album is so mind bendily beautiful and such an easy listening experience for the ears. Gil scott is on another level on this album!, His bars are fucking insane and blends so well with the instruments which also bring a certain flare and feel to this ... read more

MinatoArisato
70

A fun and vibrant album where both artists compliment each others sound quite well.

Best Track: I'll Take Care Of U
Worst Track: Piano Player

PatrickL0419
81

The appropriation of Gil Scott-Heron's vocals in this context shines the spotlight on sonic timbres that may have initially gone overlooked, and sees Jamie xx engaged in his own personal struggle with the timeless themes Heron first illuminated on I'm New Here.

ChannelBlonde
80

next level

DalekTurret32
92

When I think of song remixes, the main thing that comes to mind is ‘take the melody or chord progression of a song and change up the timbres or tones slightly’, but for this remix of the final album by the poetic great Gil Scott-Heron, Jamie xx switches up the production in extremely fascinating ways. The way he shifted the relaxed jazziness of “I’ll Take Care of You” to a more chilled piano beat was especially a highlight. Even as someone who doesn't listen to a ... read more

Andylikesmusic
80

When i got the option to review this album I was so excited. This is my 1st Gil Scott Heron record and I am so impressed!,

This whole album is such a mix of genres that makes it really interesting like Jazz,Rap,Garage just to name a few. This album is so mind bendily beautiful and such an easy listening experience for the ears. Gil scott is on another level on this album!, His bars are fucking insane and blends so well with the instruments which also bring a certain flare and feel to this ... read more

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