The Rolling Stones have released the latest video from their Foreign Tongues album, and they've plundered Hollywood again to find a suitable personality to lead the performance.
The video for Mr Charm features Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård, who counts Zoolander, Generation Kill, The Legend Of Tarzan, Godzilla vs. Kong, The Northman and Big Little Lies among his credits, but is probably best known for his role as tech mogul Lukas Matsson in the popular HBO drama series Succession.
Skarsgård is the latest star to appear in a video for a song from Foreign Tongues, following Anya Taylor-Joy and Charles Melton (Jealous Lover) and Odessa A'zion (In The Stars). On the band's previous album, Hackney Diamonds, the video for lead single Angry was enlivened by a star turn from Hollywood A-lister Sydney Sweeney.
In August, Mick Jagger and producer Andrew Watt spoke to Variety about the making of Mr Charm, revealing how the song originated in a demo guitar riff played by Jagger, before guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood added their parts. Steve Winwood contributed organ, and Jagger singled out the groove created by drummer Steve Jordon for specific praise.
“It’s connected with dance," said Jagger. "The drums, the feet, and also the spitting out of the lyrics on a song like this, where you’ve got a lot of words coming at you very quickly, and they’ve got to be in time."
Earlier this year, Wood confirmed that Mr Charm, which includes the lines, "Who would you really trust? Is it Boeing, is it NASA, is it mad mogul Mr. Musk?" was the Stones' commentary on the perilous state of the world.
"We have to try and keep the smile on people’s faces as well as being blatantly honest with them, you know, about that sickness in the land," Wood told Classic Rock. "There’s a lot of bad things going on.
"Apart from the crazy people we have running things, there’s the climate and the crazy weather we’re having. The hot is getting hotter, the cold is getting colder, and ne’er the twain shall meet, you know?"
