Good morning everyone -
For those of you not in the know, The Rolling Stones are releasing a new album. Yes, a new album with Mick Jagger at age 85.
The new album will be titled Foreign Tongues and feature some of the ugliest album artwork I’ve seen (and probably the worst released by this band.)
The release date: 10 July, which means plenty of opportunities for the Hoddle of Coffee to feature the album’s singles.
Two of those singles were released this week: In The Stars and Rough And Twisted.
I have differing views of these two. The first, which feels like a Jagger song, is okay. It mainly suffers from the overproduction that bogged down the band’s previous release, Hackney Diamonds. But the second, the rougher and rowdier Rough and Twisted has Keith Richards written all over it and feels truer to the Stones’ blues roots.
This album, like the one before, also features its own contributing lineup. Paul McCartney is again a part of it, while Steve Winwood, Chad Smith, and The Cure’s Robert Smith will also have cameos. And it was also today I learnt that Smith and Jagger had never met before they bumped into each other at the recording studio.
Here’s Jagger retelling the story during Tuesdays’ event that was hosted by Conan O’Brien:
I’m curious to see how all these collaborations will work. Is this just for the name, or is there thought behind their contributions? I think that worked to mixed success in Hackney Diamonds, where Lady Gaga delivered a strong performance in Sweet Sounds of Heaven.
Still, my biggest concern remains Andrew Watts as the producer. The first two songs released by the Stones feel like the album goodfall into “good not great” territory, but we’ll see. It’s The Rolling Stones, after all, so I’ll be buing the album anyways and cannot wait to listen.
Fitzie’s track of the day: Rough And Twisted, by The Rolling Stones
And now for your links:
BBC: “From ego-ridden team to complete package - why PSG pose ultimate test”
Billboard: The Rolling Stones Kick Off ‘Foreign Tongues’ Era In Brooklyn With Conan O’Brien: ‘This Is the Gig of a Lifetime’“