The Rolling Stones have revealed their upcoming album ‘Hackney Diamonds’ will feature two songs that they recorded with Charlie Watts.
The members discussed the upcoming release – which will be their 24th LP – in a new discussion with The Tonight Show host, Jimmy Fallon, and showcased the live premiere of the lead single ‘Angry’.
Taking place in Hackney, London today (September 6), surviving members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood all shed some insight into the album, and explained how the band has changed since the death of longtime drummer, Charlie Watts.
“Ever since Charlie’s gone it’s different, of course. I mean, he’s number four. His missus is up there… Of course he’s missed. Incredibly,” Richards said, discussing the shift in dynamic since Watts died in August 2021. “But thanks to Charlie Watts also we have Steve Jordan who was Charlie’s recommendation for if anything should happen to him. [He told us,] ‘Steve Jordan’s your man’.”
The Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts in 2011 CREDIT: David Wolff – Patrick/Redferns
“[Watt’s chose him] way, way back, and also he’s been a friend of ours. I’ve worked with Steve so it was a kind of natural progression,” he continued. “It would have been a lot harder without Charlie’s blessing on that, you know?”
When asked by Fallon whether or not the album will feature any contributions from Watts, frontman Mick Jagger revealed that while the majority of the tracklist was written at the end of 2022, two of the tracks were recorded back in 2019 and feature the musician.
“There’s 12 tracks on the album and most of them are Steve, but two are tracks we recorded in 2019 with Charlie. And so we used two of the tracks we recorded with Charlie before,” he said.
Wood also confirmed that these two songs appear back-to-back midway through the LP and are titled ‘Live By The Sword’ and ‘Mess It Up’.
They also announced that one of the new songs also features former member Bill Wyman – meaning that they “have the original Rolling Stones rhythm section” back for one track.
Elsewhere in the interview, the trio confirmed that ‘Hackney Diamonds’ was recorded in various locations including Henson Recording Studios, Los Angeles, London’s Metropolis Studios, Sanctuary Studios in the Bahamas, Electric Lady Studios and The Hit Factory/Germano Studios, in New York.
It is set for release on October 20, and the new single ‘Angry’ is available now, featuring Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney. Find the track above and re-watch the livestream with Jimmy Fallon below.
Last month, it seemed that the new record had been announced via a cryptic advert in a local newspaper. Additionally, last week the band teased a worldwide “Hackney Diamonds” announcement with an augmented reality video clip and website.
They also teased a snippet of their new single, ‘Angry’, via a website called dontgetangrywithme.com. The album is set to be their first of original music since 2005’s ‘A Bigger Bang’.
