Hugely acclaimed New York songwriter Gil Scott Heron has spoken about his new album ‘I’m New Here’.
Gil Scott Heron always had wider concerns than most funk artists. Tackling wider social issues, the songwriter introduced themes such as alcoholism, unemployment and political upheaval in a stark, affecting setting.
Sentenced to jail soon after the Millennium for a drug offence, Gil Scott Heron recently completed work on his first new album in over a decade. A typically striking work, it matches the singer’s ageing voice to production which borrows from dubstep and left field electronica.
Famously connected to New York, the singer recently told the Daily Swarm that he has not been affected by the city’s current affluence.
“New Yorkers are impressed with all that, I’m not, but I don’t mind that as much” he revealed. “I’m one of the only people I know here who has a backyard. You can set up a grill in the back of my place. I got flowers that I grow back there and vegetables and different things – it’s almost like not New York in the summertime.”
Despite the modern production, one of the running musical themes in ‘I’m New Here’ is the use of blues elements. Robert Johnson’s classic track ‘Me And The Devil’ is covered, while ‘New York Is Killing’ references a number of artists.
“It’s a blues song. I was looking through a blues archive, that’s where I found Robert Johnson, and there was a song by John Lee Hooker called ‘Jackson Tennessee’ but it was too fucking dark. We needed it to have an up and down so I just wrote it.”
Gil Scott Heron’s new album ‘I’m New Here’ is out now. Watch out for a full interview on ClashMusic soon!
