“The secret to a long-lasting marriage is not talking to each other too much,” says Mick Jagger of Hackney Empire in East London, in response to a fan question that refers him to Jimmy Fallon. We are talking about marriage with Keith Richards. He may be right, since the Stones have been living between ups and downs, periods of intense activity and long breaks for more than sixty years. Now they’ve reached their twenty-fourth album, Hackney Diamonds. It will be released on October 20, and a single was expected today Wickedwritten by Jagger and Richards with input from producer Andrew Watt.
With a special emphasis, the Rolling Stones announced not only a single and an album, but even the beginning of a “new era”. What that means and who makes them do it at 80 (Jagger), 79 (Richards) and 76 (Wood) they didn’t explain, nor did they say if there would be a tour. Encouraged by Fallon’s live stream on YouTube, they shared some information about the record with journalists, influencers and insiders from around the world in a hilarious atmosphere. There’s a local dimension and a global one, the Hackney area and the presence of a TV superstar on stage imitating Jagger, who gets up and plays, “I don’t say that.” In short, the band’s first press conference was still a long way off: “At that time,” Jagger recalls, “two journalists from Melody maker one of NME. We gave him a glass of beer and said: this is a record.
Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
at the Hackney Diamonds presentation. Photo: Dave Hogan/Hogan Media/Shutterstock
The Empire of Hackney in London, an early 20th-century theater where Charlie Chaplin, Judy Garland and many others performed, was chosen because it is located in the Hackney area, as indicated by the album’s title, which Jagger explains is a slang expression that evokes “something like broken car windows on a Saturday night” (Richards says they were thinking of “headlines like Hit and run, Smash and capture“). Despite the image of a petty crime, and despite the title of the first single, Wicked, this is not a rage record. “The original idea was to make an anger-themed album where every song would be angered,” the singer said. But, as Richards added, “You can’t be angry all the time.” The result was “a mixture of songs, love songs, ballads and a bit of country.”
“We were pretty lazy,” says Jagger, recalling the 18 years that separate Hackney Diamonds from the latest album unreleased in the big bang. “But you make a record when you really believe in it.” So the three of them set a schedule for themselves: start work on the album by Christmas 2022, and then finish it by Valentine’s Day. 23 pieces were released, finished in January 2023, mixed in February. “We did it very quickly,” said Ron Wood. After all, to quote Richards, when a singer like Jagger says he wants to make a record, you do it because you never know when it will happen again. “Good to know,” Jagger comments.
The news for the fans is that in one song live the worldd is a vintage band that includes Jagger, Richards, Wood, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts, last recorded in 2019. Watts is also involved in Mess it up, Steve Jordan plays the rest. “Of course it’s different now that Charlie is gone, he was number four, we miss him so much,” said Richards. “He recommended taking Steve Jordan in case something happened to him. It was a natural development.”
Presenting the tracklist, Keith limited himself to laconic “cute riffs” and the phrase “I don’t know what you’re talking about” (about Tell me straightT). “When we make a record, we don’t think about the reaction of the fans, we cross our fingers.” They certainly thought about the feat. This is confirmed, although it has not been officially announced that in Hackney Diamonds Also present are Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga (in Sweet sounds of heaven) and Stevie Wonder.
The presentation ends with a standing ovation from all three and a video clip. Wicked in which Sidney SweeneyEuphoria, White Lotus, sitting in the front row in the Empire) drives down the Sunset Strip, and the billboards of the Stones from different eras come to life, singing and playing a new single. It’s the old Stones playing the new ones, it’s the Stones of the last 60 years that are inside the history of the Stones in 2023. It’s not just a narrative ploy, it’s also a sign of a group that has more or less outlived its life. do the same thing, play the same music without caring about the need to change. In a way, it’s a rock ‘n’ roll anthem to being yourself, if who you are is fucking cool.