If recent comeback single Angry was The Rolling Stones reclaiming their blues-rock crown, new song Sweet Sounds Of Heaven has them harking back to their glory days of gospel-soul balladry.
Here, Mick, Keith, Ronnie and drummer Steve Jordan are joined by Lady Gaga - who’s seemingly channelling Merry Clayton’s stunning vocal performance on classic Stones cut Gimme Shelter - and Stevie Wonder, who’s happy to take a back seat as he contributes Rhodes, piano and Moog parts.
And the good news? What could have been an overblown mess ends up sounding like a triumph, with Gaga providing the perfect vocal foil for Jagger as he delivers the kind of vocal that you might have thought would be beyond him these days.
And Keith? He just does what Keith does.
It all bodes well for the rest of Hackney Diamonds, the new Rolling Stones album that will be released on 20 October.
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