Foreign Tongues

Foreign Tongues is produced by Andrew Watt.^[4] Ronnie Wood first confirmed in late September 2025 that fans would be getting a new Rolling Stones album when he told UK publication The Sun, "Yes, you will be getting a new album next year. It is done."^[5] Reports dispeled rumours that it will be their last album, and asserted that the band have written at least 10 more songs for an album after it.^[4] The album was first teased as part of a marketing campaign for the single "Rough and Twisted", credited to pseudonym The Cockroaches, which was released on 11 April 2026,^[6] including only 1,000 vinyl copies to select records stores.^[7] A number of publications had also erroneously announced in the days leading up to its release that a song entitled "Mr Charm" was rumoured to be released as the lead single for a new Rolling Stones album on 11 April 2026.^[8][9] Of the single, Will Hodgkinson of The Times stated that it had "a killer riff, a rambunctious harmonica solo from Mick Jagger, a devil-may-care spirit and the feeling that, six decades on from first crawling out of a notoriously squalid flat in Edith Grove, southwest London, to play the blues in smoke-clogged pubs and clubs along the Surrey Delta, the Rolling Stones are still a chaotic bar band forever on the verge of collapse, happiest in the most low-down dives."^[4]

The album primarily consists of new material, with a handful of leftover compositions from the band's last album, Hackney Diamonds, as well as material from the band's final session with drummer Charlie Watts in 2021, as confirmed by Jagger at a press conference hosted by the band in New York City.^[10][11] On 25 April 2026, the band posted 20 photographs onto their official Facebook page taken in different countries showing street views with posters announcing the words Foreign Tongues written in different languages, which was later to be revealed as the title of their new studio album.^[12] On 2 May 2026, the album's front cover was unveiled, a 2025 painting by American painter Nathaniel Mary Quinn entitled Trinity showing Wood, Richards, and Jagger's "faces seem[ing] to merge into one".^[13][14] The next day, the band teased further details to be released on 5 May.^[15]

On 5 May 2026, the band confirmed that Foreign Tongues would be released on 10 July 2026,^[16] also launching the album's first single, "In the Stars", on YouTube and other streaming services,^[17][18] and also included the complete audio version of "Rough and Twisted" included on "In the Stars" three and a half weeks after its physical release.^[19][13] The band released a music video for "In the Stars", featuring Odessa A'zion, on 14 May 2026.^[20] The album features guest appearances by Paul McCartney, Robert Smith (the Cure), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), and Steve Winwood and Bruno Mars. The band's recording with Watts occurred during a session in Los Angeles shortly before his death in 2021. Several tracks included on Hackney Diamonds were recorded during the same Los Angeles sessions.^[18]

The album's cover art is a 2025 pastel drawing by American artist Nathaniel Mary Quinn, whose work has been described as "fractured, dreamlike portraits [which] assemble identity from overlapping memories, emotions, and experiences rather than conventional likeness".^[21] Entitled Trinity, it consists of a composite, collage-like surrealist portrait of the three bandmembers' faces "seem[ing] to merge into one".^[13][14] The artwork was made under the art direction of Portuguese illustrator Bráulio Amado and English art director and visual artist Mat Maitland.^[22] Possibly inspired by the art of British painter Francis Bacon, it is reported to be reminiscent of a "better version of the cover to Metallica's 2016 album Hardwired... to Self-Destruct".^[14] The artwork has met with a divided reception, with Euronews dismissing it as "retina punishing".^[23]

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.1/10[24]
Metacritic	75/100[25]
Review scores
Source	Rating
The Arts Desk	[26]
Classic Rock	[27]
The Guardian	[28]
The Independent	[29]
The Irish Times	[30]
Mojo	[31]
Rolling Stone	[32]
The Telegraph	[33]
The Times	[34]
Uncut	[35]

Close

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Foreign Tongues received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 from eighteen critic scores.^[25] The review aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it a weighted average score of 7.1 out of 10 from twenty-one critic scores.^[24] Rather than being a nostalgic retread, Dave Simpson's review in The Guardian described Foreign Tongues as "a thoroughly modern-sounding, occasionally political record that has the band confronting the world around them and their remaining time within it". Simpson highlighted the tracks "Mr. Charm" and "Covered in You" for their railing against "mad mogul Mr Musk" and autocrats respectively.^[28] Kory Grow of Rolling Stone stated the album "continue[s] their late-career winning streak", finding it to be superior to Hackney Diamonds.^[32] Grow praised the record for being "more guitar-centric and holistically Stones-y" than its predecessor, stating that while the production is "a little overly slick at times", it mostly "stays faithful to the Stones' signature sound, or at least Watts' idea of how the Stones should sound".^[32]

The Telegraph's Neil McCormick awarded the album five stars out of five, finding it contains "more than enough vitality, wit, richness, energy and joy on offer here to make the case that rock 'n' roll still rules in the modern pop firmament, and the Stones remain its greatest advocates."^[33] Alex Flood of the NME found the album to be "a cool, confident compendium of everything the band have done so far", and commended Jagger's vocal performances as well as the record's "fresh and refined" songs.^[36] Danny Eccleston of Mojo called the album a "rousing and varied experience with plenty of trademark Stones action and only a handful of caveats".^[31] Eccleston did criticize the record's "loud and busy" production, as well as some songs which he found were "reaching for a modern airplay hit", but found these to be offset by "key moments when the Stones' soul shines through".^[31] Soundwaves contributor Jason Landry wrote, "The Rolling Stones defy the calendar with a raw, timeless surge of blues-rock that honors their deepest roots while proving their signature swagger remains entirely untouched by time."^[37]

Conversely, Paste writer Grant Sharples gave the album a D+ rating and denounced Watt's production, finding its "pristine polish sands down the edges and defangs the Stones' guitar solos", while the "shambolic rowdiness that defines the band's best work is almost entirely absent".^[38] Sharples was also critical of the band members' performances and the album's runtime, ultimately deeming the record to be "impulsive and haphazard" while sounding like a group of outtakes from Hackney Diamonds.^[38] Steve Horowitz of PopMatters gave the album a score of 5 out of 10, feeling it "reveal[s] their songs and talents are not what they used to be" and lamenting that "whatever special songwriting and performance sparks they had once [have] vanished".^[39] While Horowitz notes that the record "may please some Rolling Stones fans, as the individual members share inspired moments", he opines that "it is doubtful this album will attract new fans".^[39]

Credits are adapted from liner notes: