The Rolling Stones unveil their new album, “Hackney Diamonds”

When the Rolling Stones released “Beggars Banquet” in 1968, the band had an unusual way to get noticed: a surprise food fight.

And at the end of a feast with journalists in a luxury London hotel, Mick Jagger celebrated the record, which includes “Sympathy for the devil” And “street fighter man,” by Cream pie smash In the face of guitarist Brian Jones. The action quickly started from there, with the band members and guests throwing food at each other, leaving their faces soaked in cream.

On Wednesday, Jagger, 80, Keith Richards, 79, and Ronnie Wood, 76 – the three current members of the band – promoted their new album, “Hackney Diamonds”, in a somewhat more subdued manner: with Live broadcast on YouTube Hosted by Jimmy Fallon.

Named after an old British slang word for shards of glass left after a break-in, “Hackney Diamonds” will be released on October 20.

Richards, who was wearing a hat and sunglasses, said live is the “holy grail”, but recording albums is “a place where young people can come together and exchange ideas without any interference”.

“When it works, it’s great,” he said.

Jagger, who was wearing a plaid jacket, said he “didn’t want to be a bighead, but we wouldn’t have put this album out if we didn’t really like it.” He then added that he hoped the band’s fans would love it too. “I’ll drink to that,” Wood said, raising his glass.

After the 20-minute event ended, the band premiered the video for the album’s first single, “Angry,” featuring Sydney Sweeney. Jagger has said earlier that the album contains many songs that are about anger and disgust.

The luncheon was held at Hackney EmpireAn old theater in trendy Hackney, London. Fallon, who was seated in front of a broken replica of the band’s Lips logo and near three broken chandeliers, interviewed the group in front of an audience of reporters and invited guests, although no questions were allowed on the floor.

The anticipated 12-track “Hackney Diamonds” is the group’s first album of original material since the release of “A Bigger Bang” in 2005, and their first since the death of drummer Charlie Watts in 2021. Two of the songs were recorded in 2019 with Watts, Jagger also said, including the song “Live by the Sword,” which he described as “retro.”

Richards said the band was distinctly different without Watts. “It’s No. 4, it’s missing, it’s in there. Of course it’s incredibly missed. He said Watts recommended the band’s new drummer, Steve Jordan, and that going forward “would have been a lot harder without Charlie’s blessing”.

Jagger joked about the long delay before this album’s release, saying that the band—known for their extensive touring—were a bit “lazy,” and that the group needed a deadline. He added that they forced themselves into the studio in December. “We cut 23 tracks very quickly and finished them in January, and mixed them in February.”

Fans of the Stones, which formed in 1962 and have become one of rock’s most enduring acts, have been waiting for a new album since 2016’s Blue & Lonesome, which featured dozens of blues songs. Jagger he told the Los Angeles Times in October 2021 that “Hackney Diamonds” could have ended a long time ago if not for the coronavirus pandemic.

Last month, The Stones teased the album online Advertisement for an imitated glass repair company, called Hackney Diamonds, which appeared in a London newspaper. The ad text references several of the band’s hit songs: “Our friendly team promises you satisfaction. When you say give me shelter, we’ll fix your broken windows.”

In the interview with Fallon, the band said that other album titles it considered were “Hit and Run” and “Smash and Grab”.

Philip Norman, who wrote “The Stones,” a major biography of the band, said in an interview that the launch party was far from the band’s raucous 1960s and 1970s image, but managed to give its members a “tearful” air. By being held in the most fashionable area of ​​London. Norman said it was “typical Stones faking”, because the band had no previous association with Hackney.

Even though the stones said “Hackney Diamonds” represents a “new era” Norman said he was expecting a classic Stones sound. “These are the stones we know and that some of us have loved over the past six decades,” he said.

The livestream generated interest online (at points it was watched live by 53,000 people), but there was less noise on the streets of Hackney on Wednesday. Before the unannounced event, a few dozen fans waited outside the stage to catch a glimpse of the group walking the red carpet.

Sam Bullen, 42, a marketing manager, said that two months after watching a school play at the Empire Playhouse, he was back watching “the original rock and roll band”.

The enthusiasm was not unanimous. As the crowd grew larger to see the band, I asked three schoolgirls passing by what was going on. “I think I’ve heard of them,” said Anya Morrison, 16, who was told they were the Rolling Stones. Then she took the bus home.