Seen with perspective, the path that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards began in those days of 1961 in which they cemented their friendship in London thanks to their common obsession with Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters seems endless, a journey that would continue a year later with the founding of The Rolling Stones and whose last episode they have just written in New York, with the presentation of Foreign Tonguestheir 25th studio album, which they will release on July 10.
The event was presented by the American comedian Conan O’Brien, who was full of praise for the Stones’ new work, of whom he said that, being the most important band in the history of the rock and rollthey continue to behave as if they have something to prove. “We just still like to go to the studio and see what happens,” Richards simply responded, having obvious problems making himself heard by continually moving the microphone in his hand, with O’Brien trying to help him, but without success. Jagger explained in the simplest way possible why they want to continue recording music: “We had a great time doing it,” a fun that he justified by the speed of its recording. Compared to other much more laborious albums, this one was recorded in just four weeks in a London studio. “I’ve heard it 25 times and it’s absolutely fantastic. I don’t know how they do it,” O’Brien said.
One of the big doubts surrounding the Stones’ latest work, which the media had already speculated about in recent weeks, was whether this band led by two octogenarians was willing to embark on an international tour. Suspicions were justified after plans to circumnavigate the world with Hackney Diamondsthe album they released in 2023, their first studio album in 18 years and with which they once again conquered critics, was cut short due to Richards’ arthritis problems. This Tuesday in New York they have not announced if they plan to tour the world again with their new songs under their arms.
Jagger and Richards, the only ones of the five original members who remain in the band, appeared alongside Ronnie Wood, 78, a member of the Stones since 1975, at Weylin, the former Brooklyn savings bank converted into a luxury event venue, frequented by Anna Wintour herself. The two, each with 82 years behind them, have no intention of this being the final chapter. They still see themselves with energy and material to release an album. And previous information assured that they have at least 10 more songs left in their bag for the next one or ones.
Jagger, who at 31 said he would rather be dead than continue singing Satisfaction when he was 45, he resists classifications. When they talk to him about rock, he says he likes country, blues and even dance. And he justified the country song they included as a declaration of love for the United States. Of Foreign Tonguescomposed of 11 songs, two singles have already been presented, Rough and Twisted y In the Stars. O’Brien insisted that this album maintains the idea that the band’s best is yet to come.
The band with red lips has come a long way, yes, almost always fascinating, although on some occasions with a certain taste of repetition. From the passion of the beginning to their current status as mythical figures. “Like two alcoholics, they overflow, enraptured, by a shared longing: not for music in general, but for the blues,” journalist Bob Spitz recalls in a recent biography the moment in which the two teenagers met in a London subway station in 1961. From that meeting would be born one of the groups that have best defined the sound of the 20th century and that, they insist, have not yet said everything they have to say.
Aware of how difficult it is to attract attention in times of musical oversupply, the band’s new work comes preceded by a promotional campaign measured to the millimeter. If Rosalía viralizes the appearances of famous celebrities who tell their love misfortunes from a confessional at their concerts, the creators of legendary albums like Exile on Main St. They heated up the atmosphere with the display of posters in London advertising a supposed band called The Cockroaches – a name that true fans immediately associate with the Stones – with a QR that referred to a website that asked: Who the hell are the Cockroaches?
They had done something similar three years ago, with the presentation of Hackney Diamonds. So the trick consisted of publishing an advertisement in a free London newspaper, Hackney Gazettewith word games that gave clues about what was about to happen.
Foreign Tongues y Hackney Diamonds They share a producer, Andrew Watt, who apparently has taken a liking to working with rock legends who refuse to just push their grandchildren’s strollers: he has just produced Paul McCartney’s latest album. Madonna, with the release in July Confessions IIjoins the list of veterans who aspire to remember that there is life beyond Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny; that the men and women who changed the history of music in the 20th century still have something to say in the 21st.