Hear Keith Richards Ward Off 'Trouble' on Ragged New Single
by Jon Blistein
With the Rolling Stones’ Zip Code tour wrapped up, Keith Richards has released the first single, “Trouble,” from his upcoming solo album, Crosseyed Heart, which is available to stream below via iHeartRadio.
The track is a stripped-down, no-nonsense rocker built around a bevy of quintessential Keef riffs — ragged, haggard blues lines that meander the fretboard and sound at once precise and just a bit “juiced up and sloppy.”
Lyrically, Richards seems to be channeling his inner Lou Reed, singing about a pestering hanger-on in a voice that’s both world-weary and wry. “Just because I can’t see ya, see ya anymore / That’s because, honey, you’re doing two to four,” he sings, before cracking in the the next verse, “I could get you off the hook / but I know when I get you out, I won’t get a second look.”
Crosseyed Heart arrives on September 18th and marks Richards’ first solo LP since 1992's Main Offender. Richards and drummer Steve Jordan wrote and produced the majority of the album, which also boasts contributions from guitarist Waddy Wachtel and Rolling Stones backup singer Bernard Fowler.
Crosseyed Heart also features a duet with Norah Jones on the ballad “Illusion,” as well as guest appearances from Spooner Oldham (“Lovers Plea”), Aaron Neville (“Nothing on Me”) and famed multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell (“Robbed Blind”). The late Stones saxophonist Bobby Keys will also appear on two cuts, “Amnesia” and “Blues in the Morning.”
In April, Richards told Rolling Stone he was considering a tour behind Crosseyed Heart, but at the time he was focused on preparing for the Stones’ North American trek. Richards also noted that he’s interested in returning to the studio with the Rolling Stones to follow-up their 2005 LP, A Bigger Bang.
“I’d like to see just how far they can evolve,” Richards said of the band. “I have no demands or particular visions for them, but you’re just part of this thing and I want to see how far it will go.”
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