Blur singer Damon Albarn isn’t exactly thrilled about the Rolling Stones’ current album. It wasn’t just “Hackney Diamonds” itself that was a disappointment for him – the 55-year-old also criticized the presentation of “Euphoria” actress Sydney Sweeney, who appeared in the music video for “Angry”.
“It’s all nonsense”
On October 20th, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood released their current record “Hackney Diamonds” and made it to number one in the album charts in many countries. However, not everyone likes the recording so much, and among the opponents is the frontman of Blur, Damon Albarn. In one interview for the French magazine “Les Inrockuptibles” the singer explains why, among other things, he is bothered by the name, which is based on the London district of Hackney: “My family lives in Hackney, and the way the Stones showed up at the Hackney Empire really pissed me off. They never did anything in Hackney, they never played there, never contributed to anything. They just showed up. This is all nonsense.”
Albarn also disliked the “terrible” video for “Angry”. In his opinion, Sydney Sweeney, posing in a leather corset on a moving vintage car, would have been reduced to an object: “I listened to her new song and saw this terrible music video that shows her on billboards at different stages of her life. And this young woman is portrayed as an object. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Something is completely off.”
Music video for “Angry” with Sydney Sweeney:
Albarn explains why he is disappointed with the Stones’ handling of their years of success: “They were never anything other than the Rolling Stones. I love the idea of dedicating your life to a single cause, in search of the sublime. But the truth is that they have gotten worse. Worse at being herself. This is something I don’t understand. They make exactly the same music, but not as good as before. It can’t be fun to do something like that.”
The Rolling Stones in an interview:
ROLLING STONE met Mick Jagger and his “Hackney Diamonds” bandmates for an interview in London and learned more about the background of the record.
Check out their meeting here: