I’m still amazed that The Rolling Stones, over fifty years after their initial conception, are going relatively strong. With Mick Jagger hinting at the release of another Stones album every now and then, Living in a Ghost Town is perhaps a sign of what’s to come for the inevitable next release from these legends of rock and roll. But now that we’re very much in the early stages of recovering from a global pandemic (or trying to, anyway), it’s nice to see that plans are slowly coming together. Kindling the fire ever so slightly with the release of this single, The Rolling Stones look to reel fans, old and new, back into the unique consistency and charm their music can display.
That’s a keyword to keep in mind for this track, consistency. It’s what Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ronnie Wood bring together here. Living in a Ghost Town is severely on the nose with its message and themes, which feel primitive and ill-formed. Still, pushing aside the problematic, shallow message, the band put together a song that, for the most part, is relatively good. It’s not the inventive brilliance of Paint it Black, nor is it the feverishly perfect Mother’s Little Helper, but it’ll do. I don’t think it’s fair to expect brilliance over and over from a band that has provided half a century’s worth of music history, but Living in a Ghost Town faulters from time to time.
Most of these faults come from the lyrics, Jagger’s voice is surprisingly consistent, but his writing is a real letdown here. Jagger throws himself into this, though, and with some nice instrumental breaks between his staggered style, the song comes together relatively well. Its chorus is far stronger than any of the other verses, but even then, the repetition of backing “woah’s” and the “Livin’ in a ghost town” crooning leave a lot to be desired. It’s pieced together well though, for all its lyrical shortcomings, it’s hard to deny credit for the sleek production and well-formed sound, a surprisingly crisp, clean mixture that feels relatively well-formed.
Clearly nowhere close to their glory days, but it’s a nice track that muses on some basic, realistic themes that have been inflicted upon us all, a sudden shake to the system. Far from the lockdown anthem Jagger and company were aiming for, but it begs the question as to whether we really do need a song to encapsulate this time of struggle and isolation. It seems to be the sole aim of the song, and whether or not it works is entirely up in the air. If anything, it feels like a reassurance that not only is the band still together, but that they’re more than capable of playing with relative consistency.
