British rock legends The Rolling Stones have shared the official video for their latest single ‘Mess It Up’, starring actor Nicholas Hoult.
The single appeared on the quintessential rock group’s 24th studio album, Hackney Diamonds, which arrived on October 20th 2023, to mostly positive reviews among fans and peers. Blur’s Damon Albarn was one of the few exceptions.
During a live press conference at the Hackney Empire just before the album’s arrival, host Jimmy Fallon asked guests Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood what Hackney Diamonds means.
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. Also, it’s a London band.”
Fallon then asked 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’.”
In a three-star review, Far Out wrote of Hackney Diamonds: “It’s impossible not to get a kick out of these elder statesmen of rock and roll putting their best collective foot forward to see what remains of their creativity. You can call Hackney Diamonds whatever you want, but you have to call it a success.”
