A record I've neglected writing about 'til now which came out a month or so back. Now seems as good an idea to listen through and write about it as any. A reinvention of Gil Scott-Heron's final studio album We're New Here from Chicago's Makaya McCraven recast here as We're New Again. It's a deeply special and valuable document which sounds just great in the meditative 'behind closed doors' space we find ourselves in right now.
McCraven honours Scott-Heron's memory and unique musical legacy without being beholden to the original record. He reorders and resets the narratives of We're New Here in incredibly imaginative new settings. New York is Killing Me, not unnaturally sounds particularly haunting given the crisis in which that great city finds itself embroiled in right now but really there are no highlights, it's all quite vital.
The record has all the driving mindhive virtuosity of Scott-Heron's work. Best listened to at a single sitting, it paints a picture of Black American Consciousness as vivid and powerful as anything you'll hear this year. The beats and rhythms are as sharp and potent as you could ever wish. It's sad, angry, thoughtful, sensual and learned by turns. Scott-Heron's poetic lyricism speaks clear from the grave. What a loss he was.
There's regret but also renewal here as there was in We're New Here. McCraven puts Scott-Heron centre stage where he belongs, while he in turn pays tribute to those that he loves and owes a debt to that can never fully be paid. This is an incredibly rich, generous and timely record, almost prophetic in its tenderness, thoughtfulness and rage. One that encourages humanity to learn from its mistakes and forge something new and better from the embers.
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