The Rolling Stones announced their new album, Hackney Diamonds, and premiered the video for its first single, the hard-rocking “Angry,” at a press conference Wednesday in East London. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood sat down with Jimmy Fallon to talk about the making of their upcoming LP, their 24th, which is due out Oct. 20.
It’s the band’s first full album of original music since 2005’s A Bigger Bang, and their first since the death of drummer Charlie Watts. Jagger explained that the title, Hackney Diamonds, is slang for what happens to windshields when someone gets rowdy on a night out.
“We wouldn’t be putting this out now if we didn’t really like it,” Jagger said. “We didn’t want to make just any record and put it out. So we wanted to make a record. Before we went in, we said we all want to make a record that we really love, ourselves. People may like it, other people may not. But we must say this, we are quite pleased with it. … We hope you’ll like it.”
In addition to talking about the making of the record, which was helmed by producer Andrew Watt (Miley Cyrus, Ozzy Osbourne), the band reminisced about their first-ever press conference in the Sixties (buying a pint of beer each for NME and Melody Maker), how Wood likes to “keep everything moving” (to audience cheers) by playing with other artists, and the time Keith Richards smoked illegally backstage at The Tonight Show. Fallon also attempted a Jagger impression right in front of Jagger. “That’s not how I speak,” Jagger said, laughing.
The band also unvieled the track list for the album, which contains 12 tracks, though Jagger said they’d recorded 23 for it. Wood praised the funky riff of “Whole Wide World” and about how “Dreamy Skies” is about getting away from everything (which Jagger says never happens.)
Wood also revealed that Lady Gaga sings on “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” and quizzically shouted out Stevie Wonder’s name when Fallon announced the track. They described “Live by the Sword” as “slightly retro,” and Richards talked about “Tell Me Straight,” a song he sings. “I can tell you straight that I have no idea what it’s about,” the guitarist joked. And he pointed at Jagger, “He tried to steal it, so it must be good.” They all laughed.
“When a singer wants to make a record, you record him, because you never know the next time you’re gonna get it,” Richards said about how the album came together. “So when Mick said to me, ‘I want to make a record,’ I … said, ‘Let’s go.’”
“Well that’s good to know, isn’t it?” Jagger said, laughing.
“I’ve never told you that before,” Richards said.
“You shouldn’t have told me now,” Jagger rejoined, and everyone laughed. “That’s good to know, that’s all I’ve got to do.”
The band ended up cutting the album all over the world. They recorded at Los Angeles’ Henson Recording Studios, London’s Metropolis Studios, Nassau, Bahamas’ Sanctuary Studios, and a couple of New York institutions, Electric Lady Studios and the Hit Factory/Germano Studios.
They also premiered the video for “Angry,” which stars White Lotus and Euphoria actress Sydney Sweeney. The actress, who was sitting in the front row, told Fallon, “This is the biggest thing ever.” Francois Rousselet, who directed the clip for the Stones’ “Ride ‘Em on Down” (off their 2016 collection of blues covers, Blue & Lonesome), helmed the clip.
In the clip, she rides on the back of a red convertible through the Sunset Strip as billboards depicting various eras of the Stones perform the track, whose chorus goes, “Don’t get angry with me,” a perfectly syncopated Jagger rhythm. Sweeney even plays a little air guitar.
Hackney Diamonds track list:
1. “Angry”
2. “Get Close”
3. “Depending on You”
4. “Bite My Head Off”
5. “Whole Wide World”
6. “Dreamy Skies”
7. “Mess It Up”
8. “Live by the Sword”
9. “Driving Me Too Hard”
10. “Tell Me Straight”
11. “Sweet Sounds of Heaven”
12. “Rolling Stone Blues”
