Last Friday, The Rolling Stones released their new album, Foreign Tongues. As with their previous album, 2023’s Hackney Diamonds, it was produced by Andrew Watt. In my recent article on the production from Watt on Hackney Diamonds vs the new Paul McCartney album, I feel the same positive feelings towards his production on Foreign Tongues. However, I don’t feel so positive musically towards this new Stones album…

I found Hackney to be an incredibly consistent late-career peak. Full of swaggering yet melodic rock n roll tunes, with some country and other genres thrown in. To me, Foreign Tongues is a lot more all over the place. “Jealous Lover” is a slick soul song that could be on one of their ’80s albums, “Never Wanna Lose You,” a disco track, there’s the Amy Winehouse cover of “You Know I’m No Good” etc. I also think “Covered In You” and “Side Effects” are weak rockers melodically – the chord progressions don’t do much for me. Not bad necessarily, but don’t compare to anything on Hackney Diamonds in my opinion.

However, there are some absolute gems on this album that are incredible for some octogenarians. “In The Stars” showcases this fresh Stones sound I am enjoying – an incredibly melodic, massive chorus, yet still with a trademark crunchy riff. “Mr Charm” and “Divine Intervention” follow the same formula, “Hit Me In The Head” is a punk stomper featuring the late Charlie Watts on drums.

“Ringing Hollow” is country once again, “Some Of Us” features Keith Richards on vocals, “Back in Your Life” is a gospel epic and “Beautiful Delilah” a raw Chuck Berry cover. These specific types of songs are also found on Hackney Diamonds. It’s basically that album part 2, but sadly not as strong for me. The iTunes bonus track “Bad Luck Hideaway” is great though – if they released that on a deluxe album, as artists inevitably seem to months later these days, the album would edge into a good one for me.

However, the reason I wanted to do this article, and do it now, is a silly misheard lyric I spotted. The type of thing comedian Peter Kay does! On the opener “Rough And Twisted,” Jagger sings “dance like Nijinsky.” I always thought it sounded like “dance like Gymskin,” the 2026 viral sensation known for his famous shoulder dance! The moment happens at around 1:18.

The song itself is also a standout. It’s a blues rock sizzler with another monster chorus. Even though I won’t buy Foreign Tongues (unless a deluxe comes out), it’s amazing to see The Stones still rolling in 2026.

One thing’s for sure – we will all be dropping the shoulder to “Rough And Twisted” this summer. Bring it on.