The Rolling Stones – Foreign Tongues Review

Exciting it may be that The Rolling Stones are back in the studio and still releasing albums, but their run of late has not been great. Hackney Diamonds was disappointing, no matter how you dress up the Elton John, Lady Gaga, and Paul McCartney feature spots. The Beatles member is back for Foreign Tongues too, as is Robert Smith of The Cure and a whole cavalcade of guest stars. Purists of the band would find this a little overwhelming, though the core three of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood relish in the company of rock veterans and use it to their advantage on Foreign Tongues. Their latest studio album is a staggering achievement, a career-best release that will stand up alongside Sticky Fingers and Let It Bleed. It has an energy to it which the band tried and failed to tap into on A Bigger Bang and Hackney Diamonds. This is the first time in a long while that The Rolling Stones sounded truly amped up and not putting on a front.  

You need only look to the perfect stretch found on those first five songs. The four singles, Rough and Twisted, In the Stars, Jealous Lover, and Divine Intervention, with Mr. Charm lodged between the latter two. It’s an outstanding experience, a five-track example of what The Rolling Stones can do when they’re pushing the rock standard. Some are leftovers from Hackney Diamonds fine-tuned and, as it turns out, better than anything the band put out on their previous album. Mr. Charm has that feeling most of all, but it’s well placed. A “life’s too short” rallying cry that’ll be a necessary listen for those struggling under the boot of a crashing world economy. Life is too short just for making money, though it’s a little easier to hold that sentiment when you’re on the world’s rich list. Still, Jagger is at least genuine with his comments here, while Wood and Richards back him well with consistent instrumental showcases. Mr. Charm feels more like Jagger is playing a character, this out-of-touch maniac wanting to capitalise on it all.  

But then you look at the World Cup variants of Foreign Tongues, the exclusive album listening parties and the pop-up merch stalls. The band may as well be Mr. Charm himself, profiteering and pulling out all the stops simultaneously. It doesn’t sour the song, though it does smack as a tad ironic. They’re quick to shuffle themselves back into the fold of blues-adjacent romance. Jagger still has a great voice for that tone and uses it well on Ringing Hollow. Money is at the centre of a lot of these songs, often being spent on fixing the heart or dismissed as unnecessary for living a fulfilling life. Catchy classics like Never Wanna Lose You are, admittedly, elevated by the legendary status of the band. But there’s also an instrumental break and a few moaning, groaning moments from Jagger that light the fire of what the band has always done best.  

Over the last few years, The Rolling Stones have emptied their archive of live materials and hearing it come to life on a song like Never Wanna Lose You is a real treat. Hit Me in the Head hears the band miss a step, but they rally on Amy Winehouse cover, You Know I’m No Good. An outstanding interpretation of the song which paints the band more as fans than wanting to figure out a new way through. Their cover is a welcome one, a smooth jazz, rock, and blues explosion which has Jagger backed by some exceptional instrumental work. Richards and Wood are given more than a few moments to stand out across Foreign Tongues and their work really does come to life here. It’s all fitting with the rock edge Foreign Tongues fashions, a touch stronger than the overall sound and aim of Hackney Diamonds. The material here, too, is better.  

Songs not of contemplation but of defiant youth. It’s quite a turn from Jagger and the band, well into their 80s, to sing of still dancing, dreaming, and decisive choices while their contemporaries tour soft farewell albums. The Richards-led Some of Us is a fantastic chance to soak up his charms as a lead vocalist. A brief stop-off but a welcome one all the same. Covered in You features McCartney on bass, apparently. Like any great bassist, he sinks into the song and doesn’t come across as all that noticeable. It’s just a chance for The Rolling Stones to collaborate with a well-respected musician in a way that doesn’t affect the core of the project or the band. They’re hauling artists on-board who are beginning to wrap up their own careers while Jagger and the band show no sign of stopping. There is another album to follow Foreign Tongues, if reports are to be believed.  

Artists fall into two categories once they near the end of their careers. They either agree with themselves to tour forever as Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan have, or they chart a course to the end as The Cure’s Robert Smith has done. The Rolling Stones appear to be at the crossroads now and we can only hope they end up in that camp of Springsteen and Dylan, touring on with their best material in years. Foreign Tongues is a chance to hear the band re-energised and for that to happen they needed the Hackney Diamonds experience, even if it wasn’t all that exciting and exhilarating the first time around. Second times the charm for The Rolling Stones, who provide an outstanding piece of work depending not on collaboration but on this cool acceptance that they’re not around forever, but will pretend to be. Timeless work cements an artist, and work like Foreign Tongues certainly helps.