The Rolling Stones release new album Foreign Tongues with McCartney and Robert Smith as guests

The Rolling Stones have released Foreign Tongues, their second original studio album in three years and a marked acceleration in their recording pace after decades of relative quiet.

Produced by Andrew Watt, who also helmed 2023's well-received Hackney Diamonds, the new album arrives just weeks after Paul McCartney's own release, on which Watt also served as producer. The Stones' prolific run — two new albums in the 2020s alone, after releasing only a handful across the previous four decades — reflects a creative resurgence for the octogenarian band.

The first two singles, "Rough and Twisted" and "In the Stars," showcase the Stones in familiar territory: riff-driven rock with modern digital production. But the full album suggests broader stylistic range. McCartney returns as a guest, while the band enlists Steve Winwood for a new track and Robert Smith of the Cure for a collaboration — a pairing difficult to predict. The album also includes a cover of an Amy Winehouse song and draws from country, dance-pop, soul and ballad traditions.

The band preserved a drum track featuring Charlie Watts, the late drummer who passed in 2021, adding poignancy to the release. Mick Jagger's vocals throughout the album demonstrate technical strength — though clearly aided by studio processing, his live performances confirm his voice has improved with age, bucking the trend among his contemporaries.

Watt's production style, while earning strong work from the Stones, carries a harshness that can feel heavy in digital formats. Serious listeners may prefer vinyl pressings, which typically offer softer, less compressed masterings than streaming or CD versions.

Notably, the album will remain studio-only: the Stones have announced no accompanying tour, a first since the release of Hackney Diamonds.