In 2023, the Rolling Stones ended an 18 year draught with the release of Hackney Diamonds, their first album of original material since 2005’s A Bigger Bang.

The record was exceptionally well received and revitalized the band, containing some of their best songwriting in years and supported by a tour that showed the band was still firmly on their game all these years since first forming in 1962.

The Stones decided to put touring on hold to record the album’s follow-up, Foreign Tongues.

As someone who loved Hackney Diamonds and considers it a top 10 Stones record, it made me exceptionally excited that much of the elements that made that album so great were recycled for this new release, including producer Andrew Watt. Watt’s touch gave Hackney Diamonds a lot of its charm, and on Foreign Tongues he creates another crisp sonic landscape that bring Stones firmly into the modern era in terms of production.

Side A kicks off with the album’s first three singles: “Rough and Twisted,” In the Stars,” and “Jealous Lover.”

“Rough and Twisted” is a classic gutbucket Stones blues number with a shit kicking groove and Mick absolutely hammering out the vocals. It’s a great statement to kick off the album and is a good omen for the remainder of the record.

“In the Stars” is…meh. When people call a modern Stones songs “Stones by numbers,” this i the kind of song they’re referring to. There’s a lovely intro that recalls the Beach Boys, but once the song properly starts, it’s Mick lazily singing generic lyrics while Keith stays in his comfort zone with pedestrian open G licks. Pass.

“Jealous Lover” fares much better; Mick’s falsetto is in fine shape and the song would’ve been very much at home with the soulful ballads that made up side 2 of 1981’s [i]Tattoo You[i]. Steve Winwood is also fantastic on this track, providing sterling keyboard work, and Keith’s Curtis Mayfield inspired licks are sublime.

“Mr. Charm” blows the door off to kick off side 2; Mick lays down his most raw, aggressive vocals in ages, still convincingly singing ribald lyrics dripping with sex, swagger, and confidence. The song itself is fast, punchy and aggressive, driven a chugging rhythm and pounding drums that show how easily Keith can still lock into a groove and give a song the pulse attitude it needs to hit the heights. It’s a classic Stones rocker that hopefully sees the light of day onstage someday.

“Divine Intervention” keeps the energy high, recalling the punkish grit of Some Girls as Mick sings of stalking the streets of New York City and California as the guitarists (including guest Robert Smith) once again power the song along with an energy that betrays their advanced years.

“Ringing Hollow” was perhaps the most anticipated track of the album that hadn’t already been a single; it’s both a love letter and stinging indictment of America, recalling how entranced Mick and Keith were when they first came to the States, and how modern America under Trump has largely abandoned the values and cultural hallmarks that made them fall in love with the country in their youth. It’s a classic Stones country song, a hybrid of “Far Away Eyes” and the recent “Dreamy Skies” complete with excellent honky tonk piano and organ work from Winwood and Ronnie laying down some sweet slide work. Keith and Mick’s ragged harmonies are as soulful as ever and Jagger’s falsetto once again shines on the outro.

Side 3 begins with “Never Wanna Lose You,” a pulsating funk rocker driven by an irresistible groove from Darryl Jones and Winwood’s signature touch on the Fender rhodes. The lyrics are a bit trite, but Jagger belts them out with gusto and the song is one of the catchiest they’ve done in recent years.

“Hit Me in the Head” is reminiscent of “Bite My Head Off” and “Live by the Sword” off Hackney Diamonds; it’s a lot of fun, a very dark and angry rocker with Keith in especially inspired form throughout; he plays so much boogie grooves throughout this record. Mick whips out the harmonica on this one, added further authenticity to this classic Stones rocker; the real magic, however, comes from the late Charlie Watts, who cut the track in 2019, two years before the legendary Wembley Whammer passed away.

The cover of Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good” is probably the weakest track on the album; it’s not awful, but Mick oversings and it does nothing original or interesting to discern it from the classic original.

Thankfully, the record immediately picks back up with Keith’s vocal showcase, “Some of Us.” This is as good a ballad as Keith has ever done, a plaintive, whiskey drenched saloon song with Jagger’s ageless belt soulfully buttressing Richards’ weather beaten rasp on the chorus. When Mick and Keith trade refrains at the very end, it’s the most magical Stones studio moment in recent memory.

The final side begins with “Covered in You,” which lyrically recalls the lone Dirty Work highlight “One Hit (to the Body),” as Mick rhapsodizes about his inability to get rid of the remnants of a love gone cold. It’s most notable for Paul McCartney appearing on bass; Paul’s playing isn’t particularly inspired or distinct, but the song itself is a very good, sentimental mid-tempo ballad that Mick often sinks his teeth into. Mick’s vocals in general are a big highlight of the album: it’s really amazing how good his voice still sounds in his 80s’.

“Side Effects” is another thick, crunchy mid-tempo number, a bit punchier than “Covered in You” with dramatic guitars as Mick sings about…big pharma? Am I taking this song too literal? Either way, it’s one of the weaker tracks and could’ve been excised to make the record a bit leaner.

“Back in Your Life” is Mick at his most vulnerable and sincere, his falsetto once again shining on the choruses. It’s a fine enough ballad as is, but it’s truly elevated by a four minute Ron Wood solo that is his most impassioned and inspired playing in eons; it truly is one of the best solos to ever appear on a Stones record.

Just as Hackney Diamonds ends with Muddy Waters’ “Rolling Stone Blues” as a nod to the music that inspired them, Foreign Tongues ends with a new take on Chuck Berry’s “Beautiful Delilah,” a nice little curio that would’ve maybe been better served as a bonus track.

Foreign Tongues doesn’t quite match the loftiest high points of Hackney Diamonds; one of Hackney‘s greatest strengths was its brevity, recalling the lean ‘quality over quantity’ mindset of the pre-compact disc era where artists didn’t feel obligated to fill out 60-80 minutes at the expense of consistency. The album could’ve been 10-11 songs and been a bit tighter and easier to digest. 

All that said, the album’s best songs measure up to the usual standard of the Rolling Stones, even if nothing is an instant classic the way their best known songs became. As the sand in their hourglass moves ever southward, this band can still rage against the dying light and provide something potent, provocative, and totally worth a listen or several.

GRADE: B.