Yeah, those were really good albums.

And probably nearly all of the tracks have got something to say.

Nearly every track's got something to say.

There's no fillers in things.

I mean, these days things are not quite the same.

You've got to remember that.

I mean, we all talk about albums and we talk about album covers, but very few people, including myself, really listen to a whole album anymore.

I'm curious, are there contemporary artists that people might be surprised you're a fan of? Is there

Yeah

...

they say, "Oh, can you play me a couple of tracks?" So yeah, so it does sound a, very lively, and you know, it doesn't sound like you're kind of playing by the numbers or-

Mm-hmm.

And she's, like, got the gut vibe for that video and just seemed to fit perfectly.

And, um, she's very nice.

Yeah.

I, I met her, I met her at the playback party we had way before, and I thought, "Well, she'd be really good for the video." And she, and she really delivered, so I was pleased about that.

Sure.

That was, that's a big part of our thing, but also we owe a debt to English music 'cause English music's kind of like the background of country music, part of it, English, Scottish, and Irish music.

We started off playing here, you know, started off playing in West London.

We cut our teeth playing in these little clubs and things, and I still live near where I used to live as a student, you know, slightly bigger rooms.

[laughs]

Um, obviously I have a big debt for London, I suppose.

But I mean, we hadn't actually recorded an album in London for a long time.

So went to the studio, which we worked in before.

So I get the feeling that the Stones may have been at that stage as well.

He lives in the country, looks like he lives in the country, comes in in his tweeds and his flat hat, and then he comes in and plays this incredible sort of keyboard parts.

And, um, I think we got him in to do Jealous Lover first, and then we said, "Well, yeah, we could play a bit on this one." And then poor guy, we're like- Yeah, you've got like 10 minutes to do each tune, you know.

This is it, you know.

He's a, but he's a very quick study, so he ended up playing on quite a few tracks.

And as you can hear on this album, the magic is alive and well.

Well, I feel very good about this record.

I made this joke that this is a sophomore record because we hadn't made a record in 18 years and you're going to come at Hackney Dime.

The Stones were back, and the new record had a name.

Why don't you tame me? Well, album titles are really g- kinda hard.

We had some really good ones.

That's the thing.

Yeah, it's gotta be up there.

I mean, everyone contributes, you know.

Everyone has their lists, and I always say, "As soon as you start recording, tell me what the a- album title is now.

Obviously, the Stones make it their own.

Yeah.

You know, it was a way of working.

So the previous way w- the bands obviously had a lot of ways of working in a studio.

Um, and, and when we did Hackney Diamonds, that was a different way of doing it, is like, okay, we got these songs.

We got them prepped a bit at least.

They're done.

Um, we're not writing songs in the studio, w- which a lot of bands do, we used to do.

And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

The reviews are in for the Rolling Stones' new album.

This is how he explains it.

I have a friend who says, you know, the standing joke is that I behave at a dinner party like I behave on stage.

My stage persona, the person to be like that all the time, this overbearing, shouting, ego-tripping person, is like...

Of course you're not really like that, but I think when you're in your... late 20s and early 30s you you can be like that all the time and there are people in show businesses that never switch off did you have to learn to switch off yeah i think it comes with age

Yeah, why, why did it come together so quickly?

Well, I think we realized that, that we could, um, you know, that we had a different method of making records, really.

I mean, we, we've been just m- not being very lackadaisical, and we're not, weren't, weren't really getting down to it.

And so when we got Andy Watt on board, you know, we, we decided that...

I said, I said, "We, uh, there's a deadline." You know, we used to always have deadlines, 'cause we had to go on tour with the record, and the tour starts in March of the record out, you know.

I said, the Hackney Diamonds, I said, "The, the deadline is Valentine's Day.

Are you all gonna remember that? So there, you know, there's no excuses, it w- you thought it was March.

You're taking the temperature

start.

First of all, it's a huge buzz, adrenaline.

It's a huge adrenaline buzz, which must be the same as for a sport, if you're playing sport.

If you're playing a football team, you go out and play with 50,000 people.

It must be about the same, similar buzz.

So, you know, I don't have anyone coming at me, so it's much easier than playing sport.

You don't have to dribble around somewhere and then sing.

yeah

What do Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood think?

The weird thing is, is that You know, hadn't done a record, Hackney Diamonds was the first record we'd done in, I can't remember, I think it was 18, I hate to say this, but it was 18 years of new material.

I think I'm right in saying that.

And so you think, well, you're never going to make another one, you know? And here we are with another one, relatively quickly.

I mean...

when we made Hackney Diamonds we had a lot of material which sometimes happens and sometimes doesn't happen so on the Hackney Diamonds we had a lot of tracks we said look we can only put X amount of tracks on and we're going to save these we are going to make another album we're going to put them on the next album so we had already planned to make the sort of follow-up album to Hackney Diamonds because we had some and some of the tracks on this are from from Hackney Diamond Sessions, I'm not that many, I can't remember which ones, I've loaded the track list just to find out.

But, so we'd already sort of had a shortlist and said, okay, well, you know, don't worry, this is not gonna be shoved into a dusty shelf, you know, we had this discussion, because these tracks are too, this is too good to sort of put on a dusty shelf, isn't it? But we're gonna put it on the next album, so we're already planning to do that.

playing? How does he do that?

i wanted to start by asking you if london has been an inspiration to you and the band over the years Yeah, it has to

be.

Right.

Because even though we're very kind of American music based and most of our music is inspired by black music, you know, and we owe a huge debt to black music of all kinds.

We also owe a debt to country music as well, you know.

That's a big part of our...

but also we owe a debt to English music, because English music's kind of like the background of country music, part of it, English, Scottish and Irish music.

Yeah, there's

But while it was forming, that's how we kind of got the form together.

It's not a question of perfection, but it's a question of feeling.

It's are you doing the song in the right mood, and, uh, is everyone gelling on the song? And don't worry about the vocals.

Is the mood of it really right? Is, is the mood you've just expressed the mood of the song that you want to express? Because in this kind of pop music, each song has a mood that you're trying to convey to the audience.

As you don't really know the songs that well, and some people know them more than others, you don't really know.

And it also, as you're playing the song, things can change, and the person that's originally written the songs go like, "Oh, I don't know if I like this.

[laughs] I d- I don't know if, if, if that's working for me.

You have to be fearless and just go and try the thing.

But that doesn't speak to the interpersonal relationships required.

No, but the interpersonal relationships are much more difficult, and we've obviously had problems.

But I had lots of arguments with Keith, uh, and he's had obviously lots of arguments with me.

And not everyone is easy to get on with, you know? And, and, and it's hard to do.

But I mean, we've been very successful, and we haven't been living in each other's pockets.

You know, like we...

Like, when you start off, you're kind of all like a little gang together-

Yeah.

So what was it that you loved about Odessa to give her this honor?

I think she just looks the part.

You know, she's a very good dancer.

And she's got the vibe for that video.

It just seemed to fit perfectly.

And she's very nice.

I met her at the playback party we had way before.

How much is that a treat for you to share the stage and to see someone like a Taylor Swift loving your music?

And if Keith started the song, Mick is figuring out a way to make the phrasing vocally him and sound like the classic Stones songs instead of it sounding like a Winos song, you know? It's just like they really work beautifully together.

I like cooperating with people, but I also like creating things myself from scratch.

A lot of times you use your own personal experiences, but you combine them with fictional experiences you might have read about or a poem you might have read years ago, you, you don't even know where you've got this from, or a television show or some- you know, it could be from anywhere, and then you use all of it.

I mean, you use a lot of personal experience, but the personal experience is expanded by your imagination.

I have a lot of experience of writing, so I know that it might be a bit of a stuttery start, [laughs] but, but eventually it'll happen, you know? You'll get into it.

But you, you've gotta have ideas.

You've gotta, like, notate things down.

Was that Speak to Me?

Foreign Tongues is the follow-up to The Stones' Grammy Award-winning Hackney Diamonds from 2023.

Well, it was very well received, um, which is nice to know.

Hadn't made a record of original material, I can't remember how many years it was, 16 years, 18 years.

I go, "It's forever." So after you've done the Hackney Diamonds record, and it was relatively easy to do in timeframes, it wasn't like you were stuck in the studio for months on end racking your brains.

So you know that you would know what the process is going to be, if it's gonna be more or less the same.

And when we finished Hackney Diamonds, we had quite a lot of material left over, 'cause you just, you can only put so much out.

So in the Hackney Diamonds, we thought, "Well, I think that's, that's enough.

Andrew is the super producer behind huge records from massive acts from Post Malone and Lady Gaga to Ozzy Osbourne, but getting the Stones gig?

Yeah, those were really good

albums.

And probably nearly all of the tracks have got something to say.

Nearly every track's got something to say.

There's no fillers in things.

I mean, these days things are not quite the same.

You've got to remember that I mean, we all talk about albums and we talk about album covers, but very few people, including myself, really listen to a whole album anymore.

I'm curious, are there contemporary artists that people might be surprised you're a fan of? Is there someone on the charts

His voice is absolutely astonishing, I have to say.

you know, had to be of a certain quality.

You couldn't be below standard.

You couldn't just be a throwaway thing.

I think people were shocked there was even a record at all.

The

Rolling Stones really is a lot of different kinds of music band, and that's what I really think is interesting about them.

Pop culture can't be set in stone, or it can't just be standing still.

Yeah, those were really good albums.

And probably nearly all of the tracks have got something to say.

Nearly every track's got something to say.

There's no fillers in things.

I mean, these days things are not quite the same.

You've got to remember that.

I mean, we all talk about albums and we talk about album covers, but very few people, including myself, really listen to a whole album anymore.

I'm curious, are there contemporary artists that people might be surprised you're a fan of? Is there

What did you say, you Scottish piece of crap?

Oh, I said, I have seen the rain, you leather-faced wee ball banger.

Did you get that now, you jabby-flavored, shite-filled nugget pouch?

Hey, get back.

Oh.

Ah.

Uh.

Ah.

Let's get some alcohol first.

There'll be record singing and people swinging.

I don't...

It's been a while.

It's been a while.

[upbeat music]

At least he's not talking gibberish anymore.

Dancing in the Streets? I want to throw myself off a building when I think about that video.