Drake is of course no stranger to British music charts – he currently holds 6 UK Number One singles, and before this week 6 chart-topping albums. He’s won 5 Grammy Awards, 2 BRIT Awards, 6 American Music Awards, 3 of Canada’s Juno Awards, and a staggering 41 Billboard Music Awards. Last year, London’s Wireless Festival booked Drake as the sole headliner for all 3 nights due to his wild popularity.

In the last few years since eighth studio album ‘For All The Dogs’ dropped in 2023, he’s flown under the radar somewhat following a vicious high-profile rap beef with US hiphop artist Kendrick Lamar, which significantly harmed Drake’s reputation. 2025 saw him release collaborative album ‘Some Sexy Song 4 U’ with singer-songwriter PartyNextDoor, as well as solo single ‘What Did I Miss?’.

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Ninth album ‘Iceman’ has been hinted at as far back as 2024, but its promotional campaign packed with publicity stunts kicked off in April, when he encased the LP’s release date inside a gigantic ice sculpture in downtown Toronto. When the ice thawed, the date was revealed to be the 15th of May – however it wasn’t until yesterday, the 14th of May, that Drake would surprise-announce 10th and 11th albums ‘Habibti’ and ‘Maid Of Honour’ to also release at midnight.

Spotify revealed that on the release date, the trio of albums combined to make Drake the most streamed artist in a single day this year on the platform. Each album has significantly different styles and approaches, as well as a vast list of featured artists across their whopping 43 songs. When this week’s album charts were confirmed today, Friday the 22nd of May, ‘Iceman’ locked the rapper’s seventh Number One, with ‘Maid Of Honour’ sixth and ‘Habibti’ in seventh. The UK Official Charts Company confirm Drake is the first artist ever to debut three studio albums in the top 10 in one week, with the last similar feat being late pop king Prince’s compilation albums ‘The Hits / The B-Sides’, ‘The Hits 1’ and ‘The Hits 2’ all occupying the Top 10 in 1993.

Over in the UK Official Singles Chart, three singles from ‘Iceman’ have broken into the Top 10, but failed to dethrone Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s ‘Rein Me In’, which spends its 12th week at the top. ‘Janice STFU’ lands at second, ‘National Treasures’ at third, and ‘Make Them Cry’ settles for sixth.

The British metalcore collective strive to keep their identities tightly under wraps with their masks and stage names, but we know this much – there are four of them. The lead vocalist, known as “The President”, has been long-rumoured to be former Busted and Fightstar singer Charlie Simpson. His distinctive costume of a semi-realistic human face mask and a suit have caught the eye of many during their viral rise on social media, attracting fans to the band in equal measure to their fiery, politician-themed pop-metal singles.

PRESIDENT first broke onto the scene with their unexplained appearance on the billing for 2025’s Download Festival, having no released music to their name. Before the festival, they released one single in May, ‘In the Name of the Father’. The track blew up online, becoming BBC Radio 1’s Tune of the Week immediately. Three singles later, they released their first EP ‘King of Terror’, continuing their meteoric ascent with several high profile festival bookings off the back of it.

With all this happening within a year, The President announced that the debut album was in the works last November. After signing a new label deal with Atlantic Records, the first single ‘Angel Wings’ released in February this year, which laid down more synthesisers and electronic elements over the metal guitars, before second single ‘Mercy’ came out in March, which was a far heavier listening experience.

‘Doom Loop’ released this afternoon, alongside the name and release date of the album ‘Blood Of Your Empire’. The track is a groovy, pulsating alt-rock banger with electronic vibes and strained, emotional vocal hooks. The band say “The song is really about the strange tragedy of time — how we spend our lives chasing it, wasting it, and fearing it — only to realise its value once a moment is gone. It’s a reminder for people to be present while they are actually living their lives, not just remembering them afterwards.”

The painted artwork for ‘Blood Of Your Empire’ is almost as interesting as the music itself, displaying Eugène Delacroix’s 1830 depiction of The Battle of Poitiers from The Hundred Years War. The President goes into detail on the LP, saying “Blood Of Your Empire was born out of my own struggle with existential crisis and trying to make sense of belief, mortality, and humanity’s relationship with faith. Religion has inspired incredible compassion, purpose, and beauty in the world — but it has also been responsible for unimaginable suffering and bloodshed throughout history. This album lives in the tension between those two truths. Writing it became a way for me to confront the fear, confusion, and questions I’ve carried for years, and turn them into something I’m truly proud of.”

‘Doom Loop’ is available to stream now, ahead of ‘Blood Of Your Empire’ releasing on Atlantic on the 4th of September. The band begins their European summer festival run with Slam Dunk this weekend, playing in Hatfield on Saturday the 23rd of May and Leeds on Saturday the 24th.

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Aqua’s careers began in Copenhagen in 1995 when the Danish members – multi-instrumentalists Søren Rasted and Claus Norreen, along with vocalist René Dif, enlisted Norwegian singer Lene Nystrøm to form a group called Joyspeed. In 1996 after Joyspeed’s debut tanked, the band left their label and changed their name to Aqua, signing a bigger deal with Universal Music Denmark as well.

Their first two singles from 1997 debut album ‘Aquarium’, ‘Roses Are Red’ and ‘My Oh My’ were both Number Ones in Denmark, but third time was the charm when ‘Barbie Girl’ dropped. The Eurodance beats thumping behind Dif’s low rumbling vocals and Nystrøm’s saccharine, girly pop singing made the song an instant classic, both on the radio and in clubs. ‘Barbie Girl’ peaked at Number One in the UK, Ireland, Australia and Norway among others, selling 8 million units. Its follow-up ‘Doctor Jones’ brought the same sound and energy, and also topped charts in the UK, Europe and Australia.

The year 2000 saw Aqua release second album ‘Aquarius’ before Barbie toymakers Mattel engaged the band’s label in a high-profile lawsuit over ‘Barbie Girl’, claiming it damaged the brand’s reputation. The trial went in the band’s favour, but following worsening chart performances, the group split in 2001. They came back in 2007, released third album ‘Megalomania’ in 2011, split again in 2012, and reformed for the last time in 2016 minus Norreen. Their last big hurrah came with Greta Gerwig’s movie ‘Barbie’ in 2023 – while ‘Barbie Girl’ did not make the soundtrack (despite lead actress Margot Robbie’s insistence), a reimagined version named ‘Barbie World’ was produced for the score, which sampled Aqua’s classic with vocals by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice.

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After 30 years in the industry, Aqua signed off for the last time this week. Their post from the 19th of May on Instagram reads “Dear everyone. After many incredible years, we have decided to close the chapter of AQUA as a live band. AQUA has been such a huge part of our lives, and together we’ve had the chance to experience more than we ever dared to dream of.” It’s closed with a message from the three final members of the group “From the bottom of our hearts: thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey over the past 30 years. Thank you for the love, the energy, the support, and for all the moments we’ve shared together. Nothing but love and gratitude from here on. Endless love – Lene, René & Søren.”

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This past Saturday, Vienna’s Stadthalle played host to the 70th annual Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), following singer JJ’s victory with song ‘Wasted Love’ in Basel last year. This year’s competition had attracted global attention due to the controversies surrounding Israel’s inclusion. Their military activity in Palestine has received international condemnation since 2024, amplified by recent conflicts with Lebanon and Iran. The national broadcasters for Ireland, Slovenia, The Netherlands and Iceland all withdrew their entries in protest.

But their behaviour pertaining to the ESC has also brought the integrity of the competition into question. Israel’s 2025 entry ‘New Day Will Rise’, performed by Yuval Raphael, narrowly missed out on winning due to unprecedentedly high backing from the phone voting, which makes up half of the scoring system. After seeing a similar pattern in 2024, where they also placed second, more than a few eyebrows were raised – this led the New York Times to conduct an investigation, which suggested that the Israeli government heavily invested money and influence in order to sway voters across Europe. Social media accounts including those owned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu encouraged fans to vote the maximum of 20 times for their entrants. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which runs Eurovision, changed the rules this year in response, reducing the maximum phone votes to 10, and restricting unfair endorsement practices.

As the contest in Vienna got underway, two songs were predicted as standout favourites after their semi-final performances in the preceding days. Australia’s Delta Goodrem dazzled fans with an alluring stage show and fantastic range on power ballad ‘Eclipse’, while Finnish duo Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius set the stage alight with their vocal and violin duet ‘Liekinheitin’ (which is Finnish for ‘flamethrower’). Elsewhere, Israel were again expected to thrive with the phone votes for Noah Bettan’s love song ‘Michelle’, despite boos and heckles throughout his participation, and the BBC’s host Graham Norton anticipated big things for controversial Romanian rock epic ‘Choke Me’, performed by Alexandra Căpitănescu. Our own entry, singer-songwriter Sam Battle performing under his act Look Mum No Computer, was a wildcard electronic entry with ‘Eins, Zwei, Drei’.

One song that flew just under the radar was the eventual winner ‘Bangaranga’. Bulgarian pop singer Dara’s performance had everything Eurovision loves – a pounding dance beat, bizarre aesthetics, and a simple but infectious hook. As the scores from the international juries tallied up, Dara was in first place on 204 points, ahead of Australia in second on 165. However, as the phone votes came in, Israel shot straight to first with a massive surge of support, while unlucky Sam Battle was left with a single meagre point. With a score of 343 points to beat and only Bulgaria left to be declared, the tension for their final total was immense. In a twist, Bulgaria received an enormous boon of 312 points, for an end result of 516 and a landslide victory. With the UK tragically in last place of 25, the top 5 looked like this:

 
1. Bulgaria: Dara – ‘Bangaranga’ (516 points)
2. Israel: Noam Bettan – ‘Michelle’ (343 points)
3. Romania: Alexandra Căpitănescu – ‘Choke Me’ (296 points)
4. Australia: Delta Goodrem – ‘Eclipse’ (287 points)
5. Italy: Sal Da Vinci – ‘Per Sempre (281 points)

27 year old Dara is a well-known pop star in Bulgaria, and has gone home a hero after winning the country its first Eurovision Song Contest. Speaking backstage after her victory, she said “I want to thank everybody who felt the Bangaranga and felt connected to the force.” Bulgarian National Television, their broadcaster who represents the country in the EBU, has confirmed that the 2027 song contest will be held in the capital Sofia.

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As we edge closer to June, we draw nearer to yet another World Cup marred by controversy. The 2022 competition drew criticism for its host Qatar’s alleged use of slave labour in constructing their stadiums, as well as the event being rescheduled to winter dates. This year’s tournament, which kicks off on the 11th of June, is hosted jointly in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Since Donald Trump’s re-election in 2025, the US has grappled with political assassinations, violence on the streets involving the nation’s immigration authority (ICE), and the ongoing conflict with Iran which has created a global oil crisis. These factors, ­coupled­ with Trump’s tariff-posturing with allied nations, anecdotes of foreign nationals being deported for social media posts, and grossly inflated ticket prices for the World Cup games, have led to many fans in the UK and abroad to approach travelling to the US this summer with apprehension.

But as the biggest television spectacle in sport, the World Cup Final routinely draws several billion viewers from all around the globe, and this year’s final is advertised by organisers FIFA as the biggest ever. In 2024, the association announced a final halftime show, inspired by American Football and the NFL’s Superbowl entertainment. While this choice was met with sceptic cries that it would contaminate football’s traditions with American commercialisation, the plans continued with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin heading up the selection process.

FIFA announced the lineup for the halftime extravaganza today with a light-hearted trailer starring Chris Martin, Sesame Street characters Elmo and the Cookie Monster, and several stars from The Muppets including Kermit and Miss Piggy. The ensemble of one of the UK’s most popular singers and the US’s most famous puppets revealed a billing of pop queen Madonna, K-Pop sensations BTS, and Latin songstress Shakira. President of FIFA Gianni Infantino was quoted in the announcement as saying “Madonna, Shakira and BTS are global icons whose music transcends borders and generations, and we are proud to welcome them to the first-ever FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show curated by Chris Martin of Coldplay.”

The halftime show will support FIFA’s Global Citizen Education Fund, their initiative whose goal for the event is to raise $100 million for sponsoring education and football opportunities for the world’s children. Madonna, who has a vast history of philanthropic work, said “Performing at the World Cup final in support of the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund is deeply meaningful to me. Without education, children are denied opportunity before they even have a chance. Every child deserves access to a quality learning — because education expands possibilities and creates lasting change.” Remarks also came from Shakira, who is a board member of the Global Citizen Education Fund and previously had a hit with 2010 World Cup single ‘Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)’. She says “I’ve spent my life doing two things — making songs and building schools. At the FIFA World Cup, those two paths come together. Standing alongside Madonna and BTS, I’ll be performing ‘Dai Dai’, the song I created for this World Cup and for the kids around the world we will reach with the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. My hope is that on the world’s biggest stage, the importance of investing in children’s education steals the show!”

The FIFA World Cup Halftime Show has been produced by Global Citizen, with partners Live Nation and Done + Dusted. You can catch Madonna, BTS, Shakira, and the stars of Sesame Street and The Muppets on the 19th of July, when the final airs from the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Ticket touting and scalping are the acts of purchasing tickets for concerts or other events with the sole intent of reselling them for extortionate prices. Recent investigations by the BBC and others have found gangs and shady businesses operating at massive scale, using both computer farming systems and overseas employees to bulk-buy event tickets as soon as they go on sale, making enormous profits at the expense of legitimate buyers. Other findings have linked the biggest ticketing sites in the world, who are already under fire for inflated prices and an exploitative “surge pricing” model, to these schemes, suggesting a collusion between sellers and touts in order to make both parties richer. The issues have caused a crisis in the live music industry, with both fans and touring acts speaking out at the impacts and demanding strict regulations within the market.

The 2024 Manifesto that saw the current Labour government elected with Keir Starmer as Prime Minister pledged to “put fans back at the heart of events by introducing new consumer protections on ticket resales”. Since then, the government have consulted with consumers and industry insiders, as well as proposing firm limits for online ticket reselling prices – however, NME report that no action was taken by last November, leading to many high profile artists to call on the government to uphold their promises.

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Back in April, consumer research group Which? provided an estimate that without new measures, British music fans would lose a total of £24 million this summer as a result of scalping practices. An open letter to the government was penned, co-signed by industry giants like Live Nation and Ticketmaster, as well as the management for acts including Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead and Ed Sheeran. The letter read “The predatory tactics used by touts, often operating overseas, are distorting the live events sector and causing significant harm to UK fans who are consistently excluded from attending shows due to exorbitant prices. Culture should be accessible to all.”

On the 8th of May, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made a full statement on the matter, exclusively revealed by NME. In the letter, Starmer spoke of his personal love for music, the importance of live music and the rights of fans to attend shows. He pledged that in co-operation with the music industry and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, they will “crackdown on ruthless ticket touts preying on music fans by selling tickets for exorbitant and unaffordable prices, stopping them from seeing their favourite artists” and “will protect fans so they can keep more of their hard-earned cash, by making it illegal for tickets to live events to be resold for more than their original cost.”

In move that has let down many, the government’s motion to clamp down on ticketing policy was announced in this week’s King’s Speech as the “Draft Ticket Tout Ban Bill”. As a draft bill, it will spend far longer under the microscope in both the House of Commons and House of Lords before ever seeing any potential introductions, as opposed to a primary government bill which would lead to quicker and more decisive actioning. Its scope is to make resale profiteering illegal, set a cap on service fee charges, and give market governing bodies stronger sanctions against ticket sellers failing to protect consumers.

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Tom Kiehl, Chief Executive of music industry organisation UK Music, responded directly to the PM, saying “The Government’s failure to take long promised action on the shady ticket touts and rogue businesses who continue to rip off consumers is a betrayal of millions of music fans. Until we get action on sky-high ticket resales, we will continue to see cash siphoned overseas from the wallets of UK fans and the UK music industry in order to swell the already huge profits of ticket resale businesses.” He stressed the importance of addressing the matter sooner rather than later, stating “I urge MPs to explore the legislative programme and identify alternative opportunities to ensure primary legislation is passed in this year’s Parliamentary session.”

Other remarks have come from groups like Which?, Ticketmaster and the Music Managers Forum, all urging the government for a more convincing show of intent, but so far the only response from the government’s side has been a statement from a spokesperson. Their comment reads “As the Prime Minister has made clear, we remain fully committed to stamping out ticket touting for good. For too long, fans have been ripped off and we’re determined to right that wrong. That’s why we are taking the time to get this right by bringing forward draft legislation to ensure that our measures are truly effective, enforceable and future-proof and fans get the protection and security they have always deserved.”

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After passing the milestone of 20 years since their unforgettable debut album ‘Silent Alarm’ in 2025, Bloc Party’s triumphant return to the top of the UK’s indie rock scene continues without pause. Since releasing their last album ‘Alpha Games’ in 2022, the London group received an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection in 2025, and have returned to headlining major events like Brighton’s On The Beach series and this March’s BBC Radio 6 Music Festival. The announcement of the new album comes at a big time, before Bloc Party are due to tour with Muse in North America and Interpol in the UK later this year.

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‘Anatomy of A Brief Romance’ is shaping up to be an exciting album packed with heart, passion and storytelling. Lead singer and guitarist Kele Okereke has opened up about the real experiences behind the music in a statement, saying “every lyric you’re hearing on this record was something that actually happened to me. I had to tell the story, from start to finish”. According to NME, the concept of much of the material was developed following Okereke’s separation from his former partner and father of his children, when he suddenly found an unexpected new relationship. He adds “having this romance, this new thing emerge, it kept me sane, in a very dark time”.

Today’s brand new single ‘Coming On Strong’ carries these themes heavily through it. Its dark, tense vibe is filled with lyrics that tell of a new relationship that sounds ominously toxic. Okereke breaks it down as “that feeling of, I’ve had my eye on this person for a while, and then we’re finally in a situation where we can be something to each other. And that’s such a seductive feeling”, before further explaining the root of the tension – “you’re not seeing their problems, and they’re not seeing your problems. You’re just shaping up and getting ready for this ride… I like the fact that harmonically and musically, it feels dark, sinister, like something is creeping up.”

The album has been recorded with legendary producer Trevor Horn, whose previous credits include classic albums by Pet Shop Boys, Mike Oldfield and Grace Jones. ‘Coming On Strong’ is the second song on the album, with the full 14-item tracklist announced today looking like this:
1. 22.01.22
2. Coming On Strong
3. Love Bombs
4. Pigwig
5. Lagoon Blue
6. Muscleworks
7. Clark Kent
8. Worst Birthday Ever
9. Not Your Problem
10. Now We Can’t Be Friends
11. Rotherhithe
12. Stories
13. Moving On
14. Eulogy

Single ‘Coming On Strong’ is out now, and the release date for ‘Anatomy of A Brief Romance’ is the 11th of September out via label Contagious LTD. Bloc Party are supporting Muse on the July dates for their North America tour, before their co-headlining tour of the UK and Europe in November and December. Check the band’s website for dates and ticket info.

The Smashing Pumpkins were one of the more interesting bands in the US’s alternative rock scene throughout the 90’s. Forming in Chicago in 1988 and breaking through with 1993’s ‘Siamese Dream’, Corgan and co. set themselves apart from the pack of American grunge bands with their ambitious approach to songwriting and theatre with ‘Mellon Collie’ in 1995. A 28-track double-album with conceptual elements, diverse instrumentation and Corgan’s iconic nasal vocals, the album brought Smashing Pumpkins seven Grammy nominations. Five singles released from the album, including hits ‘Zero’, ‘Tonight, Tonight’, and ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’ which won the Grammy in the Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal category.

Corgan, who wrote the majority of The Smashing Pumpkins’ music, gave ‘Mellon Collie’ a new lease of life in 2025 with its operatic reimagining. Working with Grammy-nominated conductor James Lowe, the music has been re-composed for the full 60-piece orchestra to back Corgan’s vocals. To give it its full title, the show ‘A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness Featuring Billy Corgan’ had a 7 show residency at Chicago’s Lyric Opera House last November.

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It was announced today that the show will be going international this September, starting with two nights at the Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre. From there, it goes to Belgium, France and Spain. Guest vocalists are arranged, with Ed Parks performing in London, Antwerp and Paris, while Madrid’s show has Sydney Mancasola, Zoie Reams, Dominick Valdes Chenes and Dean Murphy. The full list of shows is below.

September:
• 1 – Royal Festival Hall, London
• 2 – Royal Festival Hall, London
• 6 – Queen Elisabeth Hall, Antwerp (two shows)
• 8 – Salle Pleye, Paris
• 9 – Salle Pleye, Paris
• 11 – Palacio Vistalegre, Madrid

A press release describes the shows as looking to “re-imagine and pay homage to the era-defining album of the same name, whilst also expanding the definition and intention of opera”. Corgan, who is now also a popular podcaster and promotes his own wrestling company, posted on social media site X to say he was “so excited that this is finally announced! Thank you to all that have asked and are interested in attending. I guarantee you won’t be sorry if you do…”. He also took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the unique fusion of rock and opera in the concert, writing “opera and rock both tell stories of heightened emotions, and I am excited for both fans of my music and traditional opera fans to hear some truly inspired work; for the balance here is to honor both traditions in a magisterial way.”

Pre-sale tickets for the London shows go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday the 12th of May, at 10am, with general sale commencing at 10am on Thursday the 14th. A 30th anniversary reissue of ‘Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’ released in January this year, with The Smashing Pumpkins also due to drop a 35th anniversary version of debut album ‘Gish’ on the 29th of May on Corgan’s web store.

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How do you follow an album like ‘Brat’? The 2024 electropop LP was a commercial smash hit around the world, won three out of the nine Grammy Awards it was nominated for, and spawned its own cultural era with ‘Brat Summer’.

Well, Charli XCX decided to immortalise this period of her life in film, with the 2026 release of her movie ‘The Moment’, a mockumentary with her as lead star, telling a fictionalised tale of her life after the album and preparing for its massive world tour. ‘The Moment’ released in cinemas at the start of the year, around the same time as Emerald Fennell’s cinematic retelling of ‘Wuthering Heights’, which Charli XCX wrote the soundtrack for.

With her big screen break established, Charli has returned the focus to her career as a singer-songwriter. In an interview published by British Vogue in April, she made several allusions to a drastic change in style for her upcoming musical releases. Demoing a track backed by distorted guitars with a lyric “I think the dance floor is dead, so now we’re making rock music” led to rampant speculation that she would be reinventing herself as a full-blown rockstar. During the interview, Charli suggested whatever came next, it wouldn’t be like ‘Brat’, saying “If I’d made another album that felt more dance-leaning, it would have felt really hard, really sad. What’s interesting for me is to bend the possibilities of what my perspective on that could be.”

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For those who expected an immediate reinvention as a hard rock artist, you may be slightly disappointed – Charli took to social media last week with a behind-the-scenes studio clip and the playful caption “a video of me making a song called “rock music” that is not actually rock music which is funny because i never said i was making a rock album. love you xx”. The footage shows her at Rue Boyer Studios in Paris last October, working with frequent collaborators Finn Keane and A.G. Cook on the new track ‘Rock Music’.

While ‘Rock Music’, which released on the 8th of May, does feature the electric guitars and the chorus refrain “I think the dance floor is dead, so now we’re making rock music”, rock music it is not. The track centres around her trademark autotuned vocals and pop energy, but with a stomping rock beat and lyrics about headbanging. The single comes with a black-and-white music video supervised by ‘The Moment’ director Aidan Zamiri, showing Charli engaging in heavy music clichés like moshing and crowd-surfing, as well chaotic band scenes with cameos from Keane, Cook, and Charli’s husband and The 1975 drummer George Daniel.

‘Rock Music’ might not be her ‘Stairway To Heaven’, but it’s a lot of fun, and Charli XCX is clearly enjoying making music right now. You can stream the song now, with new music from her as-yet untitled seventh studio album expected later in the year.

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.