Gil Scott-Heron just sounds pained. Me and the devil/ Walking side by side. Scratch that, he sounds painful and devious. His album coming up on XL, as produced by label head Richard Russell, should be a fairly bleak affair, a lot of dark corners and ancient histories meeting in a lightless room. It's a happy marriage, though, Scott-Heron's worn and raw voice with the sharp edges and dank tones of downtempo and dubstep. We know from an earlier peek at his acoustic cover of Smog's "I'm New Here," that the entire record is not murked in cloaked ambiance, but we'd bet, whatever tenor, it's going to be pensive.
Download: Gil Scott-Heron, "Me and the Devil"
