The Rolling Stones have been hinting that a new studio album might be in the works. Now three of them have confirmed that it’s true.
It happened at the Sunday evening (4/4) opening party for Exhibitionism, a career-spanning exhibit of Stones memorabilia, artifacts, media and other items from the band’s archives at London’s Saatchi Gallery. Band members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ron Wood all attended the event.
“We’re actually in the studio in the moment cutting new stuff,” Keith Richards told BBC 6 Music.
When asked about new recordings by Associated Press, Wood said. “We went in to cut some new songs, which we did. But we got on a blues streak. We cut 11 blues in two days.
“They are extremely great cover versions of Howlin’ Wolf and Little Walter, among other blues people. But they really sound authentic,” he reports. “When we heard them back after not hearing them for a couple of months, we were, ‘Who’s that? It’s you,’ It sounded so authentic.”
It’s been 11 years since the World’s Greatest Rock’n’Roll Band released their last studio album, A Bigger Bang. Will fans maybe get lucky and soon enjoy two new studio releases from the Stones: a disc of original songs and a collection of blues covers?
Wood did say that fans can expect a new release “this year.”
Richards was a bit more mum about an album. “There’s one coming,” he said. “I can’t say no more. My lips are sealed.”
But he did tell Rolling Stone last fall, “We were just talking and were like, ‘Well, we’ve got to get back in the studio. That’s agreed? Agreed. Right, OK boys.”
“It’s sounding really good,” reports Mick Jagger. “We did one session before Christmas. We’ll probably do more.”
The band played an historic and triumphant free show in Cuba on March 25th that followed a Latin American stadium tour, all of which capped their 50th anniversary celebrations. So any sessions would find the band free of any rust.
And it seems the Stones will be staying busy. “We’re a working band,” Wood says. “We’ll be working again before the end of the year.”
