text: we 're new here we 're new here is a remix album by american recording artist gil scott - heron and english music producer jamie xx , released on february 21 , 2011 , by young turks and xl recordings . a longtime fan of scott - heron , jamie xx was approached by xl label head richard russell to remix scott - heron 's 2010 studio album i 'm new here . he worked on the album while touring with his band the xx in 2010 and occasionally communicated with scott - heron through letters for his approval to rework certain material . incorporating dubstep and uk garage styles , jamie xx applied electronic music techniques in his production to remix scott - heron 's vocals from the original album over his own instrumentals . although it is structured similarly , we 're new here eschews the original album 's stark style and lo - fi production for bass - driven , musically varied production and sonical illumination of scott - heron 's vocals . it has been noted by music writers for scott - heron 's narratives in jamie xx 's own musical influences and tastes . although it did not chart in the united states , the album debuted at number 33 on the uk albums chart , on which it spent two weeks . it was promoted with a multi - format release , including a limited edition box set , and the release of two singles , " ny is killing me " and " i 'll take care of u " . we 're new here received universal acclaim from critics upon its release . background following a period of personal and legal troubles with drug addiction , gil scott - heron recorded and released his first album of original material in sixteen years , i 'm new here ( 2010 ) , with the assistance of xl recordings - label head richard russell . produced by russell , the album served as a departure from scott - heron 's earlier work , both musically and thematically , eschewing its soul , jazz , and funk styles and social commentary for more personal , reflective lyrics with ruminations on love , loss , and identity , set to contemporary electronic music . it was well received by fans and music critics , who viewed it as a comeback for scott - heron . russell , a fan of english indie pop band the xx , proposed the idea of remixing i 'm new here to the band 's percussionist and producer jamie xx . russell 's production on i 'm new here was heavily influenced by the xx 's self - titled debut album , which showcased jamie xx 's , beat - oriented and minimalist production . after its success , jamie xx had occupied himself with solo production work , remixing other artists , and djing in clubs in the united kingdom and europe . he was a longtime fan of scott - heron 's music , which had been introduced to him by his parents as a youth . russell later said of his decision to enlist him , " we didn 't want lots of remixes by different people . that can be confusing . gil was open to jamie re - interpreting the whole album " . according to jamie xx , he himself had no point of reference in remixing another artist 's album , and later said of taking on the project , " it was a bit nerve - wracking because this is the first time i 've ever done an album on my own . but i was really just eager to get at and i knew exactly what i wanted to do " . production although scott - heron received top - billing for the release , jamie xx worked solely on the remix project . for we 're new here , he remixed 13 of the original album 's 15 songs , including its " interlude " cuts , mixing scott - heron 's vocal tracks from the original recording sessions over his own beats and instrumentals , rather than the original music . many of the remixes were created by jamie xx on his laptop , while on tour with the xx . in a march 2010 interview , he said that the label " gave me the parts and let me do whatever i want , so i 've been doing it on my laptop on tour . [ i 'm ] only using [ gil 's ] vocals , i 'm not using any of the original music from it , which is very freeing " . on his intentions for the album 's music , he explained in an interview for the irish times , " i wanted it to sound like everything i had been listening to in london . i wanted it to sound like something you ’ d hear on pirate radio . you hear so many different genres , and it ’ s all so convoluted and mixed - up , but it makes sense when you turn on the station " . in addition to vocal tracks from i 'm new here , jamie xx mixed vocals from scott - heron 's 1970s work . in an interview for pitchfork media , he explained his incorporation of these vocals and its meaning to the work as a whole , stating : although he was permitted by xl to remix i 'm new here , jamie xx wrote longhand letters to scott - heron for his approval to rework the other vocal material : " originally , i sent him the album and there were a couple of tracks he wasn 't sure about . i had to write to him — he does handwritten letters , not e - mail — and explain why i wanted to use some of his older vocal tracks on the album ... so after i wrote him the letter , he said i was free to do whatever because he knew what i was doing " . scott - heron was credited as a producer for the album , along with russell and malcolm cecil , a producer and engineer on scott - heron 's past work . the original vocals had been produced and engineered at clinton studios and looking glass studios in new york . we 're new here was mixed at london 's xl studio , where additional recording also took place . composition similar to i 'm new here , we 're new here features 13 songs that include four interludes and is rhythmically stressed in sound . however , it contrasts the original album 's stark style and lo - fi production with bass - driven , musically varied production and sonical illumination of scott - heron 's vocals . we 're new here is considered a post - dubstep work . in remixing the album , jamie xx incorporated dubstep tones , dance - influenced tempos , pitch - shifted and sped - up samples , wobble , sub - bass , and drum ' n ' bass beats into the music . we 're new here also contains elements of trance , house , techno , hip hop breakbeats , and electro music . dan hancox of the national noted in its sound " a melange of creaking bass hums , cascading uk garage drums and washes of electronic noise " . according to thom jurek of allmusic , " richard russell 's production on i 'm new here kept scott - heron 's voice front and center ; [ jamie xx ] displaces it often , all but covering it with effects , beats , and pitched vocals in styles that cross the electronic music gamut " . tim noakes of dazed & confused describes the album as " [ his ] love letter to sample culture and the history of the uk electronic underground . against [ jamie xx ] ' s booming backdrop of sub bass breakdowns , obscure samples and two - step rhythms , scott - heron ’ s scarred poetic missives take on a more sinister edge " . ian of slate comments on the album 's music , " the beats and bass are classic dub [ ... ] and the use of stretched and pitched vocal samples cement the albums place in the ever - developing dubstep cannon " . music critic max feldman notes " smothering " bass lines and " robust " beats , and writes that the album performs a " balancing act between the avant - garde end of the dubstep fallout " and " dance - ability " . the title track incorporates a sped - up sample of gloria gaynor 's " casanova brown " , with an emphasis on the line " i was lonely and naïve " from the sample . " running " has scott - heron 's spoken word vocals scattered and repeated . " ur soul and mine " samples the vocals from rui da silva 's house classic " touch me " , distorting the vocals in the song 's verse , but retaining its refrain . the densely produced " home " features clattering snares , a heavily reverbed keyboard sample , a drum loop , and a vocal sample of scott - heron singing the line " home is where the hatred is ... " , taken from the song of the same name from his 1971 album pieces of a man . bbc online 's ele beattie said that jamie xx 's sampling " tunes the listener in and out of his musical predecessors . he a personal musical canon into something utterly contemporary " . robert christgau characterizes scott - heron 's original narratives as those of " a drug fiend of considerable perversity and tremendous intelligence who 's gonna be dead soon " , and comments that jamie xx " hears in [ scott - heron 's ] last testament an irreversible disintegration that he translates into heavily sampled minimalist electro marked indelibly by scott - heron 's weariness , arrogance , and wit . " release and promotion we 're new here was released by young turks and xl recordings on february 21 , 2011 , in the united kingdom , and on february 22 , 2011 , in the united states . it was released on multiple formats , including cd , vinyl lp , vinyl box set , and digital download . its limited edition box set release was made available via the album 's official website and included the lp on pink heavyweight vinyl , an lp of instrumentals on green heavyweight vinyl , cds of both the standard and instrumental album , and two photographic prints . prior to its release , we 're new here had been made available for streaming via the guardian website on february 14 . the album 's first single , " ny is killing me " , was released digitally on november 30 , 2010 , and on january 10 , 2011 , as a limited edition one - sided 12 - inch single . sean michaels of the guardian wrote of the song , " ghostly samples rise around scott - heron 's vocals , combining the poet 's inner - city canvas with [ jamie xx ] ' s dubstep roots . it 's as good as anything the dj has produced " . the second single " i 'll take care of u " was released on january 6 , 2011 . it features euphoric , house - inspired piano hooks and echoing guitar riffs . a music video for the single was directed by photographer jamie - james medina and ag rojas , and it was released on march 4 , 2011 . set in new york city , the video 's plot follows a female boxer as she takes care of her child and trains for a fight . we 're new here debuted at number 33 on the uk albums chart in the week ending march 5 , 2011 . it also entered at number four on the uk indie chart and at number 18 on the digital chart . the album dropped to number 60 on the uk albums chart in its second week , and fell off the chart in its third week of release . we 're new here did not chart in the united states . in belgium , the album debuted at number 44 and subsequently spent five weeks on the ultratop 50 albums chart . critical reception we 're new here received widespread acclaim from critics . at metacritic , which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications , the album received an average score of 83 , based on 28 reviews . allmusic 's thom jurek called it " a mercurial collaboration ... full of nods to other club styles and eras " , and praised jamie xx for " 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 " . chris martins from the a.v. club praised " the everlasting gravity of [ scott - heron ] ’ s words and wisdom " , writing that " his pained , bluesy musings are as universally human as they are perennially pertinent ... scott - heron talks , sings , hums , and pontificates , sometimes over the beat and sometimes from deep within the snowdrift " . pitchfork media critic sean fennessey commended jamie xx for being bold rather than respectful of scott - heron 's material with a " finicky , hard - charging production [ that ] trumps scott - heron 's voice , overpowering it with ideas , if not focus " . ben ratliff of the new york times said that the album is an improvement over " the bummed - out original " with " patience and breadth and almost zero pretension " . max feldman from popmatters commented that " ultimately , we ’ re new here succeeds because it manages to seamlessly reconcile the different traditions from which it draws — not just gil scott heron ’ s uttering utterances , but uk garage , the fibrous gloss of seventeen seconds - era the cure , and r & b futurism " . in a mixed review for the observer , kitty empire wrote that jamie xx " tear [ s ] up russell 's entirely and showcase [ s ] his own emerging versatility " , but said that while his productions are " consistently excellent , they aren 't really there to augment scott - heron 's words " . andy gill of the independent commented that the remixing techniques " only occasionally work in its favour " . louise of nme wrote that he " coaxes fresh narratives from the source material " and that it " 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 " . in msn music , christgau called the record " a young man 's bad dream about mortality , and of interest as such " , and wrote of the source material 's importance to jamie xx 's remix , " the snatches of scott - heron 's voice , cracked for sure but deeper than night nonetheless , delivers it from callow generalization and foregone conclusion . " august brown of the los angeles times felt that " the duo lends each other gravitas and levity on this very curious but ultimately immersive lp " . at the end of 2011 , , uncut magazine named we 're new here the 32nd best album of the year . christgau ranked it 20th on his list of the year 's best albums for the barnes & noble review . track listing credits are adapted from the album 's liner notes . sample credits " i 'm new here " contains a sample of the recording " casanova brown " as performed by gloria gaynor . " i 've been me ( interlude ) " contains a sample of " boxcar hobo " by . " certain things ( interlude ) " contains a sample of the recording " slaves " as performed by giuliano . " the " contains excerpts from " that 's how heartaches are made " as performed by baby washington . " ur soul and mine " contains a sample of " touch me " by rui da silva . " parents ( interlude ) " contains a sample of " hap 'nin ' " , written by bernard purdie . " jazz ( interlude ) " contains a sample of the recording " sixty - eight ways " . personnel malcolm cecil – engineer , producer , synthesizer programming romy madley croft – guitar jamie xx – additional production , design , musician , remixing royce jeffries – assistant phil lee – design rodaidh mcdonald – engineer , mixing – engineer , mixing mandy parnell – mastering mischa richter – photography richard russell – vocal producer gil scott - heron – vocal producer , vocals lawson white – engineer , mixing charts