The Rolling Stones break their musical silence with the premiere of “Hackney Diamonds”

The long-awaited release of “Hackney Diamonds” this Friday puts an end to the long musical silence of almost two decades without new songs from the Rolling Stoneswhose latest album has already garnered promising first reviews.

The artists presented the album in London last month in the Hackney neighborhood, in a packed and media event in which the three members of the group, Mick Jagger, Keith Richard and Ronnie Wood, participated, after the death of drummer Charlie Watts two years ago. years.

And last night, they performed by surprise at the New York club Racket NYC, in a performance joined by Lady Gaga and in which they performed seven of the new songs, as well as other incombustible hits from their legendary repertoire.

This is the first project by the veteran rock group that includes Steve Jordan on drums in Watts’ place, who nevertheless participates in two songs recorded before his death.

It is also the Stones’ first work produced by Andrew Watt, a 32-year-old young man who has contributed to the success of other established artists such as Miley Cyrus and to whom notable musical “revivals” of figures such as Iggy Pop are attributed.

“Hackney Diamonds” – the twenty-fourth original studio album by the British group – features a not inconsiderable list of famous guests, such as the eternal Paul McCartney, Elton John, the former Stone Bill Wyman and Lady Gaga.

According to Rolling Stone magazine – “bible” of specialized music journalism -, this work “is not simply another new album” by the group, but rather a “vibrant and cohesive album and the first work by the Stones that you will want to listen to more than once.” once before leaving it.”

In a recent interview with the BBC, Keith Richards was reluctant to explain the meaning of the twelve new songs, limiting himself to pointing out that “it’s Mick who writes the lyrics.”

The first single, “Angry”, which could already be heard at the beginning of September and talks about how to end a relationship “well”, received excellent reviews from the local press, which called it – in the words of The Telegraph – the “best single in four decades of the group” with adjectives like “extravagant” or “challenging.”

On two of the album’s songs you can still hear the late Watts’ recorded drums: “Live by the Sword” (also with Wyman), and “Mess It Up”, while Paul McCartney’s bass can be heard on “Bite Your Head Off,” where Jagger sings, “If I were a dog, I’d be howling around your house all night.”

The new project includes some ballads – “Depending on You”, which addresses heartbreak – and arrangements that transport gospel music to “Sweet Sounds of Heaven”, a song about poverty and materialism with Stevie Wonder on piano and the aforementioned Lady Gaga.

In “Tell Me Straight” there are slight echoes of the late “grunge” of the 90s while “Driving Me too Hard” is the creative fruit of the joint work between Jagger and Richards.

Another track, “Whole Wide World,” looks back to “past moments” and “complicated times”: “The streets I used to walk are full of broken glass/And everywhere I look, There are memories of the past,” the lyrics say, while the “country” tunes feel very present in “Dreamy Skies.”

At the Stones’ official store, in the central London neighborhood of Carnaby Street, a fan of the band who goes by the name of Tessa, from the Netherlands, told EFE today that she is “very excited” about the launch and says that she has already He has it “in charge” at his neighborhood record store.

Another stalwart of the group, the Russian Pavel Ivanov, wonders: “Who knows if they will release another album until another member of the group dies; “This could be the last one and that makes it more special.”

Precisely in that store dedicated to the band, a limited edition of vinyl copies of “Hackney Diamonds” are sold today.

Preceded by a surprising promotional campaign, which included the projection of the Stones’ recognizable lip and tongue logo on buildings and iconic places in cities around the world such as New York, London and Paris, the new album is the first that The group has released since “A Bigger Bang” in 2005.

With information from EFE