Album Review: The Rolling Stones – Foreign Tongues

The Rolling Stones are arguably the UK’s greatest band. They were a front-runner in the 60s and 70s, survived the 80s and 90s, and continued to tour throughout, playing bigger and bigger shows in the process. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, as well as being two of the most recognisable rockstars on the planet alongside Ronnie Wood, have written some of the greatest songs of all time together, including Beast Of Burden, Paint It, Black, and Gimme Shelter. Now, they’re proving their immovable place in culture with album twenty-five, Foreign Tongues.

Rough And Twisted and In The Stars, our first two samples from this new collection, open the album with a rocking but polished sound. Much like their last record with producer Andrew Watt, it manages to capture the essence of the band’s sound and bring it into the modern day. The latter especially embraces the groups poppier side, with an anthemic chorus and tight backing vocals. Jealous Lover sees Mick shooting for the stars with his falsetto, a feat that seems miraculous for a man who has spent decades shouting onstage every night. Mr Charm and Divine Intervention return to their blues roots with catchy opening riffs and fun bridges, the latter of which transitioning into a brass-laden final chorus that is highly satisfying. Ringing Hollow is a slow-burning acoustic lead ballad a la Wild Horses, while New Wanna Lose You is a foot-stomping singalong that proves itself to be one of the best of the bunch.

Hit Me In The Head is not just special for its blistering speed and youthful punk energy, but also because it is one of the last songs recorded with drummer Charlie Watts who passed in 2021. Taken from their final session together, the performance is wonderful and it makes his death even more of a shame. You Know I’m No Good is the first of two surprises on the album, it being an Amy Whitehouse cover. A great one at that. The second is the inclusion of Paul McCartney on bass in Covered In You, although his usual flare is sadly missing. Keith’s husky vocals make an appearance on Some Of Us, a gorgeous mid-tempo ballad that brings to mind artists like Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits. Back In Your Life is a brilliant penultimate track that musically brings everything together, from brass and backing vocals to pounding drums and a ripping solo. It would have made a good closer, but that space is reserved for an acoustic cover of Chuck Berry’s Beautiful Delilah, a perfect homage to the music they were raised on.

Foreign Tongues isn’t an album that will surprise fans of the band, but it will thrill and please. Nestled in the hour-long runtime are some fantastic songs, and even while some don’t quite fly and high, the tracks that hit really hit hard. It’s a joy to see the band still managing to produce such a great record after so long.

Ryan Bulbeck

Writer and Musician, Ryan Bulbeck has been published with a number of online publications, and has worked with a myriad of great artists, both as a performer, and as a producer. His most recent band The 295 are still active, playing shows around the UK.