Mick Jagger is not one for looking back. At least, not very fondly. If you sift through the fading, cracked pages of NME interviews from the ‘60s and ‘70s, you’ll read the snake-hipped frontman’s withering putdowns of past Rolling Stones tracks. In a 1974 conversation, the band’s 1963 debut single ‘Come On’ was dismissed as “shit… god knows how it got in the charts”. Of their second, Beatles-borrowed single ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’, Jagger remembers the group didn’t really want to record it at all. And this year, the swaggering singer told us about a vinyl player he found pumping out “ancient” Stones tunes in his dressing room: “they sounded awful.”
Across seven decades, this near-addiction to staying relevant has kept Mick and co. on the lookout for novel ideas. After the initial rock’n’roll boom, 1976’s ‘Black And Blue’ incorporated disco and dance grooves, as well as Keith Richards’ penchant for reggae ruminations (‘Cherry Oh Baby’). Punk’s dirty fingerprints were all over late-’70s gem ‘Some Girls’. Then there’s the post-pomp era, which sashayed through New Wave (1983’s ‘Undercover’), then-contemporary pop production (1986’s ‘Dirty Work’) and even electronic music (parts of 1997’s ‘Bridges To Babylon’). Though never slavish trend-hoppers, the British R&B rebels have always known how to cherry-pick from the charts in order to embellish their most recent offering.
In this same forward-facing spirit comes their 25th studio album, ‘Foreign Tongues’, a cool, confident compendium of everything the band – now in their eighties or not far off (guitarist Ronnie Wood’s the spring chicken at 79) – have done so far. It’s their second venture with both Grammy-winning producer Andrew Watt and replacement sticksman Steve Jordan, following 2023’s hiatus-ending ‘Hackney Diamonds’, after long-term drummer Charlie Watts’ sad passing two years earlier. Now that their partnership with Watt is well-established, and Jordan seems fully up to speed, you’d expect the Stones to keep on rolling. And so they do.
Rootsy opener ‘Rough And Twisted Road’ kicks things off in raw, bluesy style, before Jagger tries to keep the party going on soul-tinged stomper ‘In The Stars’, asking in his customary yowl: “Do you wanna dance ‘til the roof caves in?” As on ‘Hackney Diamonds’, there’s a desire to prove the old lust for debauchery remains – only now, it’s touched by a nervous urgency to seize the day while they still can. “Life’s too short for making money, show me how to spend it honey,” sings Jagger on punky ripper ‘Mr Charm’. Similarly, themes of fate and destiny permeate the flowing, melodic sing-a-long ‘Divine Intervention’ (“out of the question”, apparently) as well as gospel closer ‘Back In Your Life’ (“Is this how our story will end?”)
Perhaps more worryingly, Richards discloses to an imaginary confidante on his habitual solo ballad (‘Some Of Us’) that “some of us are on our knees”. It’s not enough to indicate any real-life health struggles, but the arthritic axeman has often topped ‘most likely to die’ lists and said he “couldn’t commit” to touring this year for vague reasons. Jagger, meanwhile, croons about “coming a bit unscrewed” on McCartney collab ‘Covered In You’. Could this be evidence of The Glimmer Twins’ slackening grip in their respective ninth decades?
Luckily, there’s little musical evidence to support this theory on ‘Foreign Tongues’, where the songs generally sound fresh and refined. The political barbs aimed at Elon Musk (on ‘Mr Charm’) and American politicians (on ‘Ringing Hollow’) feel pointed instead of blunt. Pleasingly, Jagger’s voice shows no signs of weakening – astounding when you consider the prolonged stress on his vocal cords over many thousands of hours singing live.
There are a few head-scratchers – the tawdry Amy Winehouse cover ‘You Know I’m No Good’, along with Bruno Mars’ inaudible cowbell cameo on ravey romp ‘Never Wanna Lose You’, which The Cure’s Robert Smith rescues with his backing vocals and synth chops. And while ‘Hackney Diamonds’ had ‘Sweet Sounds Of Heaven’ – a beautiful, quasi-religious epic starring Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder – ‘Foreign Tongues’ lacks a true classic Stones joint. There’s nothing to rival ‘Gimme Shelter’ or ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ if they do tour again.
However, we’re picking holes. There’s a reason the liner notes feature so many iconic names, keen to bask in their heroes’ light (those not already mentioned include Steve Winwood, The Heartbreakers’ Benmont Tench and Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith). Mick, Keith and Ronnie have hit a surprising purple patch – and if you believe the eternally energetic entertainer’s claim that he’s already writing the follow-up to ‘Foreign Tongues’, there’s plenty more left in the tank.
