Rolling Stones sound reinvigorated on 'Foreign Tongues', album with great feats and mention of Musk

Cover of 'Foreign Tongues', the Rolling Stones' new album
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Title: "Foreign Tongues"
Artist: Rolling Stones
Rating: 7.5/10
Continuing having fun and creating with the same people, after decades, can sound like a herculean task. In "Foreign Tongues", an album released this Friday (10), the Rolling Stones make it look easy.
The group's second album of this decade, "Foreign Tongues" shares a lot with their previous album, "Hackney Diamonds" (2023). In practice, the two form a "double", since several songs were recorded in the same sessions and have the same producer (American Andrew Watt).
This album also includes "Hit Me in the Head," with the last recording by drummer Charlie Watts, who died in 2021.
Like the previous one, "Foreign Tongues" marks a great phase for the band. On this album, the Stones sound like themselves, inspired and energetic: from "dirty" blues rock, to more delicate tracks, versions of blues and jazz hits... and even a jab at the "insane tycoon Mr. Musk" ("Mr. Charm").
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To this end, the group, now a trio, has a large cast. There are appearances by Paul McCartney (on bass), Robert Smith, from The Cure, Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and even Bruno Mars (the latter plays a bell in "Never Wanna Lose You"). Whoever received the invitation came to the studio.
Rolling Stones in promotional photo for the album 'Foreign Tongues'
Disclosure/Mark Seliger
This celebration is translated into the songs, and "Foreign Tongues" is fuller than its predecessor. Right on the opening track, the great "Rough and Twisted", they delight among the swinging piano, loose guitars and a mix that puts you inside the bar. Others, like "In The Stars" and the disco "Jealous Lover," are perfect for radio.
Stylish as always, the musicians appear in great shape and (most of the time) with no intention of changing the world - just having fun.
But even beneath the hedonistic tone of the lyrics, there's room for a little politics: "I wake up sick and tired of all these autocrats / You know, they seem to be multiplying like a bunch of filthy rats, with their missiles on parade", intones Jagger in "Covered in You".
At 82 years old, Mick not only has his hips in good shape, but his voice is still impressively well. The vocalist goes from the falsetto of "Jealous Lover" to the screams and growls of "Never Wanna Lose You". Keith and Ronnie's guitars are also in full swing, talking to each other or each going their own way.
Rolling Stones in promotional photo for the album 'Foreign Tongues'
Disclosure/Kevin Mazur
Less successful is the version of "You Know I'm No Good", by Amy Winehouse. Amy's lyrics match Mick's raspy voice ("you know I'm no good," he sings), but the version lacks the melancholy that made the song so cutting.
Still, "Foreign Tongues" is consistent and proves that the guys are reinvigorated. You can feel it in songs like the vivacious "Never Wanna Lose You" and the delicate "Back In Your Life." On the last one, when Mick says "come on, Ronnie [Wood]", it feels like you're listening to friends at a jam session.
The album closes with a raw version of Chuck Berry's "Beautiful Delilah", reminiscent of those young Brits who listened to American blues as teenagers. Nothing more Rolling Stones: these men, in their eighties, continue to find their source of youth in rock and roll.

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Source: G1