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Rock
Polydor
New Release
Rolling Stones
Foreign Tongues
Reviewed in issue:
116
Release Date:
10 Jul 2026
Reviewed by:
🟣 Dave Scott
For Fans Of
Faces
The Black Crowes
Aerosmith
Top three tracks
• Mr Charm
• In The Stars
• Rough And Twisted
Fireworks Verdict:
"Still sounding superb into their sixth decade"
THE REVIEW
Words Of Wisdom!
I still fondly remember seeing the Rolling Stones for the first time at the old Wembley Stadium on the ‘Voodoo Lounge’ tour, back in 1995. I also remember people telling me, “You’re not seeing them in their prime” and “Shame you’re seeing them near the end of their career”. Yet thirty-one years later, the legendary rockers have delivered their latest studio record, ‘Foreign Tongues’.
The album contains fourteen tracks, including two covers, and the credit list contains such luminaries as Steve Winwood, The Cure’s Robert Smith, Paul McCartney, the Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith and Bruno Mars all contributing, plus the late Charlie Watts on ‘Hit Me In The Head’. The tracks themselves are almost as varied as the guestlist performing on them, and yet they are all unmistakably the Stones.
"I still fondly remember seeing the Rolling Stones for the first time at the old Wembley Stadium"
The slide, acoustic and piano ballad ‘Ringing Hollow’ offers a splash of traditional Country, while the closing cover of Chuck Berry’s ‘Beautiful Delilah’ has Mick Jagger using a vocal effect and plenty of acoustic and what sounds like Steel guitar. The other cover, Amy Winehouse’s ‘You Know I’m No Good’, is a slower Blues ballad, but with trumpets and a guitar motif that add an almost Latin feel. There’s the fabulous ‘Never Wanna Lose You’, where bouncing organ and grooving axe-work combine with Jagger’s fine vocals to deliver an almost seventies Disco track given a Stones’ makeover, whereas ‘Divine Intervention’ is an old-school Rock & Roll number with fine guitar and upbeat chorus. ‘Jealous Lover’ is a slower-paced number containing Jagger’s helium verse vocals that could break windows and a catchy chorus.
My favourites have to be the infectious ‘Mr Charm’, a song tailor-made for gigs with a concert-ready beat, stop-start vocals, excellent riff and a chant-able chorus. ‘In The Stars’ is classic Stones’ rocking where the belter of a riff slithers out the speakers surrounded by “oooo” chants, Jagger’s vocals, an insistent rhythm and a solo you have to boogie to. The organ/guitar ballad ‘Some Of Us’ sees Keith Richards on vocals (later joined by Jagger) for a song suited to dark Blues clubs. Lastly, the superb opener, ‘Rough And Twisted’, features some filthy slide below Jagger before exploding into something even crunchier; I love the harmonica/slide interplay.
"There’s the fabulous ‘Never Wanna Lose You’, where bouncing organ and grooving axe-work combine with Jagger’s fine vocals"
Still sounding superb into their sixth decade, the Stones have delivered another belter of an album. I’m steering clear of the “ranking” argument minefield, but what I will say is this fantastic record has everything you would expect and love from the ever-amazing Rolling Stones.
Reviewer:
🟣 Dave Scott
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