The Rolling Stones - Foreign Tongues
In my review of The Rolling Stones’ 2023 release Hackney Diamonds, I closed out with the following line: “There’s no doubt in my mind that this band will tour until they’re 100 years old - and probably well after that - but if they decide to make this their last album, then Hackney Diamonds is one helluva note to go out on.” Turns out, it wasn’t their last. The band already had material written from the sessions for that album that they’ve been shaping over the last two years. Enter Foreign Tongues: the twenty-fifth album (twenty-seventh American) by The Rolling Stones. The album feels like a continuation of the business that the band started on Hackney Diamonds; at times, the quality of songs on Foreign Tongues supersedes that of Diamonds. While it is a longer album than its predecessor, it never once feels like a band at the end of the road. If anything, they seem more invigorated.
The band re-teamed with producer Andrew Watt, bringing the Stones’ hard-hitting blues rock, traditional rock and roll, and pop sensibilities to the forefront. “Rough and Twisted” is a straight blues jam, signaling the entrance of the Stones as Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood make their guitars absolutely wail. One of the biggest highlights is lead single “In The Stars”, which features an infectious riff and trademark Jagger vocals over stadium-ready rock, the best they’ve sounded in years. “Never Wanna Lose You” echoes this same kind of energy later in the record, even featuring The Cure’s Robert Smith on background synths.
Foreign Tongues finds the band grappling with mortality, changing relationships, and the fragile nature of life throughout its fourteen songs. Jagger pushes his falsetto to the limits on “Jealous Lover”, a song about the dissolution of a relationship due to, well, jealousy, verging into funk and R&B territory. “Divine Intervention” is an upbeat rock track that deals with succumbing to the end of the world, as Jagger sings about meeting a psychic in Hollywood (“Through the gloom, I asked her, “What’s my future?”/Well, she threw up and then broke down and cried/Tears in her eyes”), learning his fate, and eventually giving in to the madness. (“Divine intervention/Is out of the question/And I’m gonna dance in the flames”).
Perhaps one of the best songs on the album is “Ringing Hollow”, a country track that finds Jagger reckoning with his relationship with America, confronting the bleak reality of the country that they idolized, dreamed of coming to, and would eventually make them superstars the world over. (“Lady Liberty don’t look so good/When she’s wearing a frown”). It’s indeed a love song, but not in the traditional sense; the Stones have never been a political band the way that a big rock band like Green Day is, but they’ll sing about this country - the good and the bad - the same way that their heroes before them did in the blues tracks they clutched while waiting for the train in Dartford, Kent. Songs like “Mr. Charm” further speak out against autocrats (“mad mogul Mr Musk”), as does “Covered in You”. Elsewhere, Richards lends his vocals to the ballad “Some Of Us”, a lighter-hearted moment that proves to be a standout moment.
Much like Hackney Diamonds, many friends show up and make appearances throughout the record. Paul McCartney lends his bass skills to “Covered In You”, James King lets the saxophone rip on several songs, while Steve Winwood, Robert Smith, Ron Blake, and even Bruno Mars make appearances on the album. For Mars’ appearance, you’ll have to listen carefully; he plays the cowbell on “Never Wanna Lose You”. Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith lends a hand in the closing track with not a drum kit, but a concert bass drum.
Foreign Tongues features two covers: “You Know I’m No Good” by the late Amy Winehouse, which the band does a fine job of replicating, and album closer “Beautiful Delilah”, originally conceived by Chuck Berry. The beautiful irony to this - much like Hackney Diamond's closer “Rolling Stone Blues”, itself a Muddy Waters cover - is that Richards and Jagger met as kids and bonded over artists like Berry. The bookend of this song at the end of the record, itself a bookend to the band’s career, is intentional. Whether they’re lamenting about the state of America in a country ballad, singing about women in an upbeat full-band rock track, or stripping their sound down to just an acoustic guitar and vocals to pay tribute to the blues legends that came before them, The Rolling Stones are still at the top of their game.
Jagger is 82 years old, and he has hinted at the fact that he is writing more material that could lead to another album. I wouldn’t put it past this band. But if this is indeed the last album The Rolling Stones ever make, well…just refer back to the first sentence of this review. I’ll still keep listening.
