“I did not become someone different that I did not want to be, but I’m new here. Will you show me around? No matter how far you’re gone, you can always turn around.”

This is a new decade. Such a change in time brings promise, renewal, and the chance to look back and move forward with whatever direction you feel is real. 2010 has brought us I’m New Here by the poet and musician and godfather of rap Gil Scott-Heron.

From We Almost Lost Detroit, H2O Gate Blues, and The Bottle to name just a few classics from his peak writing and recording days, Gil Scott Heron was once the voice of the street, of the left and someone the FBI had their eye on for a time. Seeing him play The Other End in Greenwich Village in the late 1970’s was a truly uplifting and magical experience. Seeing him later that decade when the crack pipe had taken over his soul made me cry as I walked from the venue before the gig was even close to 1/2 way through.

I’m New Here is a resurrection of Gil Scott- Heron. Musically this is a fairly sparse, rhythmic record, but what we are experiencing is the hard edged wisdom of his soul. The illumination of New York Is Killing Me and The Crutch are two songs that come from experience. One about the physical environment of a city that has left many people wallowing in its wake and the other speaks of the ‘land of nod’ that defined his life for a stretch. Gil sounds as if he is dealing with his demons and even if he says it with a laugh, “If you gotta pay for the things you did wrong, I got a big bill coming…”, you know truer words have not escaped his lips.

Produced by Richard Russell of XL records and encompassing just under a half an hour it is a brief, but a gripping, slice of where Gil is now. I don’t know if this is encouraging or if we will hear more soon. Sometimes the embers burn again if they are blown upon and this may just be what it is. These tracks give a different generation the opportunity to discover Gil. This record gives Gil a chance to think about life and redemption.