On their first album of originals since 2005, the Rolling Stones walk a tightrope between slick modernity and the quaint notion that their music still packs any grit. “Hackney diamonds” are the broken glass shards left after a smash and grab, but muscular US producer Andrew Watt ensures Hackney Diamonds is a far more polished-sounding record than its insalubrious title would suggest. Full of defiant brio and what you might charitably call unreconstructed Stonesiness – the Sydney Sweeney-starring video for Angry is a case in point; the LP’s Bill Wyman cameo is another – Hackney Diamonds is packed with convincing echoes of the band in its pomp. Two of its quieter moments steal the show however: a cover of Muddy Waters’ Rollin’ Stone – titled Rolling Stone Blues – featuring only Keith Richards and Mick Jagger; and Dreamy Skies, a bittersweet country turn whose Dylanesque weariness provides a welcome respite from all the precision-tooled vim.
Late drummer Charlie Watts plays on a handful of songs; Paul McCartney guests and Elton John tinkles a game-faced piano on the comically lairy Live By the Sword. More lovely keys come from Stevie Wonder, who joins the Stones and a turned-up-to-11 Lady Gaga for a climactic Sweet Sounds of Heaven.
