The Rolling Stones are back this year with 25th studio album ‘Foreign Tongues’, having released new single ‘In The Stars’ earlier this week. The album will feature appearances from Sir Paul McCartney, Robert Smith and others, as well as a recording of late drummer Charlie Watts, who passed in 2021.
One of the peerless founding bands of British rock music, The Rolling Stones formed in London in 1962, enjoying a career spanning 7 decades, 24 studio albums, and thousands of sold-out shows. The Stones lineup since 2021 consists of frontman Mick Jagger plus guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood – the band had been active since 1993 as a four-piece with Charlie Watts on drums before his death, but released 2023’s ‘Hackney Diamonds’ as a trio using some of Watts’ recordings. ‘Hackney Diamonds’ was their first full studio album since 2005, becoming their 14th UK number one album and winning them their fourth Grammy award.
Rumours of an album began earlier this year with the mystery emergence of ‘The Cockroaches’, a new group who released single ‘Rough and Twisted’ exclusively on a limited vinyl run this April. From snippets of the song posted during its social media campaign, the band was swiftly revealed to be The Rolling Stones acting under an alias, with the single being positively received as another strong release from the group. During the furore The Times reported that ‘Rough and Twisted’ was taken from their new album, which was due for a July release.
Their next promotional move was the plastering of cryptic messages on billboards in cities around the world, containing the phrase “foreign tongues” in various languages. As this unfolded in late April, fans quickly identified that it was the name of the new Stones album, before the band themselves confirmed everything on the 5th of May with the release of lead single ‘In The Stars’.
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‘Foreign Tongues’ will release on the 10th of July, boasting 14 tracks with appearances from Sir Paul McCartney, Robert Smith of The Cure, drummer Chad Smith of Red Hot Chilli Peppers fame, and Steve Winwood. As well as singles ‘In The Stars’ and the full release of ‘Rough and Twisted’, the LP will also feature one of the last tracks recorded by Watts, ‘Hit Me In The Head’, and country song ‘Ringing Hollow’. The whole album was completed at London’s Metropolis Studios in less than a month, and was developed with returning producer Andrew Watt, who previously worked with the band on ‘Hackney Diamonds’.
Following the announcement, the trio were guests on Conan O’Brien’s US talk show to discuss the album. Reported by The Guardian, Jagger discussed the diversity of music on the record, saying “The thing about this record is – the Stones are a rock band that also has the capacity to do ballads, country music or dance music. So we don’t get stuck in one kind of style.” They also talked about their desire to keep things interesting so deep into their careers, with Richards remarking “You don’t just want to sit on what you’ve done before. We put it together, we love to do it, and there is always something more in there.” Host O’Brien enthused that the album, which he claims to have received early and listened to “25 times”, bore similarity to 1972’s iconic ‘Exile on Main St.’ in its “vibrancy” and “urgency”.
‘Rough and Twisted’ and ‘In The Stars’ are out now, with a physical release for the latter coming on the 15th of May. ‘Foreign Tongues’ releases on Polydor and Geffen on the 10th of July, with pre-order links up now. The Rolling Stones have suggested that this won’t be their last album, and they have at least 10 songs written for a future release.
