The Rolling Stones explain meaning of new ‘Hackney Diamonds’ album name

The Rolling Stones have explained the meaning behind the title of their long-awaited new album ‘Hackney Diamonds’. Watch the full press conference above.

The legendary band announced their 24th studio record yesterday (September 6) and shared its lead single, ‘Angry’. It’ll mark their first collection of original music in 18 years, and follows 2005’s ‘A Bigger Bang’.

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During a live press conference at the Hackney Empire, host Jimmy Fallon asked Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood what the title of the forthcoming album means to them.

Richards responded: “It got called ‘Hackney Diamonds’ because we were flinging ideas around for titles, and we went from ‘Hit And Run’ [to] ‘Smash And Grab’. And somehow, between that, we came up with ‘Hackney Diamonds’ which is like a variation of both.”

He added: “Also, it’s a London band.”

Fallon went on to ask whether ‘Hackney Diamonds’ was “a type of slang”, to which Jagger replied: “Yeah, it’s like when you get your windscreen broken on Saturday night in Hackney, and all the bits go on the street… that’s ‘Hackney Diamonds’.”

Elsewhere in the livestreamed conference – which NME attended – the Stones revealed that two songs on ‘Hackney Diamonds’ feature their late drummer Charlie Watts. Both tracks – titled ‘Mess It Up’ and ‘Live By The Sword’ – were recorded in 2019.

The album was recorded in various locations including Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles, London’s Metropolis Studios, Sanctuary Studios in the Bahamas, Electric Lady Studios and The Hit Factory/Germano Studios in New York.

“I don’t want to be big-headed but we wouldn’t have put this album out if we hadn’t really liked it,” Jagger explained during yesterday’s event. “We said we had to make a record we really love ourselves.

“We are quite pleased with it. We are not big-headed about it, but we hope you all like it.”

‘Hackney Diamonds’ is due for release on October 20 in various formats – you can pre-order/pre-save it here.

The Rolling Stones’ most recent album came in the form of a blues covers LP, ‘Blue & Lonesome’, in 2016.

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