The Rolling Stones are breaking their long musical silence

The long-awaited release of “Hackney Diamonds” this Friday ends a long musical silence of almost two decades without new songs from the Rolling Stones, whose latest album has already received promising first reviews.

Their satanic majesties They launched the album last month in Hackney, London, in a packed and media event attended by three members of the group, Mick Jagger, Keith Richard and Ronnie Wood, following the death of drummer Charlie Watts two years ago.

And last night they played a surprise performance in the club New Yorker Racket NYCin a performance that was joined by Lady Gaga and in which they performed seven new songs, as well as other non-flammable hits from their legendary repertoire.

This is the first project of the veteran rock group in which Steve Jordan is on drums in place of the late Watts, who despite everything participates in two songs recorded before his death.

It is also the first Stones 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 is credited with significant musical “revivals” of figures such as Iggy Pop.

“Hackney Diamonds” – the group’s twenty-fourth original studio album British training– has a significant list of famous guests, such as the eternal Paul McCartney, Elton John, former Stone Bill Wyman and Lady Gaga.

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

In a recent interview with the BBC, Keith Richards hesitated to explain the meaning of the 12th new topicslimiting himself to pointing out that “Mick is the one who writes the lyrics.”

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

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

The new project includes some ballads — “Depending on You,” which is about heartbreak — and arrangements that lead us into gospel music sneak into “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 group’s late “grunge”. 90 while “Driving Me too Hard” It is the creative fruit of the joint work of Jagger and Richards.

Another song, “Whole Wide World”, looks back on “past moments” and “hard times”: “The streets I’ve walked are full of broken glass/And everywhere I look, There are memories of the past,” the lyrics say, while the country melodies feel very present on “Dreamy Skies.”

In the official Stones store, in central London Carnaby Street, A fan of the band called Tessa, from the Netherlands, told EFE today that she is “very excited” about the release and says she already has it “on order” at her neighborhood record store.

The other leader of the group, Russian Pavel Ivanov, wonders: “Who knows if they will release another album before another member of the group dies; this one could be the last and that’s why it’s more special.”

It is in this shop dedicated to the band that the limited edition vinyl copies of “Hackney Diamonds” are being sold today.

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