By James Cochran, Photo Editor, and Ashlyn Swaggerty, Social Media Intern
On August 22, 2025, Deftones released Private Music, their highly anticipated first album in over five years. The album currently has two singles: “My Mind is a Mountain”, which was released on July 10, 2025, and “Milk of the Madonna”, which was released exactly two weeks before the album was released, the former peaking at 11 on Billboard’s US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, and the latter peaking at 23 on the same chart. The album’s recording personnel includes lead vocalist/co-founder Chino Moreno and lead guitarist/co-founder Stephen Carpenter are backed up by longtime member Abe Cunningham on the drums and, the newest member of the band, their touring bassist Fred Sablan. Moreno’s voice has changed (pun intended) in a positive way and uses different approaches to his vocals, while Carpenter and Cunningham continue to innovate with their playing and Sablan brings his unique live playing skills to the studio.
Stylistically, the album’s packaging and text style is a departure from previous albums in Deftones’ discography; the album title and song titles are all written in lowercase, with the exception of the album’s spacey sixth track, “cYz.” For fans who bought the album at a record store, the cover is purple, while on streaming services and physical releases at big-box stores, the cover is green; not only does this increase the value of a physical copy, it also gives two unique perspectives to the album’s artwork. The album is also shorter than the last three of the band’s albums, clocking in at 42:22, a length for an album that would be more common in the long-playing record era. With 11 total tracks, here are our personal favourite cuts.
“My Mind is a Mountain”
The first track on the album and the first single released in promotion of it, “My Mind is a Mountain” is about the inner conflict we all face between our thoughts and feelings. The title uses mountains as a metaphor for the thoughts and how overwhelming they can be, while feelings are conveyed through the symbolism of a storm. Abe Cunningham’s use of the ride cymbal makes the song sound like there’s two different tempos going on, creating a mind-bending feeling that is unique to the track.
“I Think About You All The Time”
The lyrics are simple yet captivating. The repetitive nature of the song draws the listeners in, urging them to wonder who “You” in the title is. The lyrics leave the answer up for interpretation, allowing people to relate to the song in their own personal way. However, longtime listeners of the band believe it’s about their former bassist, Chi Cheng, who passed away in 2013 after a four year coma. Whatever the meaning, the song has a sense of yearning that can only come from true loss and heartbreak.
“Infinite Source”
This song alludes to Moreno’s feelings about being in the band and performing. He sings about the “final song” and “last bow,” as if to say that this is their last album, singing, “I’m releasing / We’re afloat.” If this truly is their last album, this song cues the audience in that they’re happy about it – they’re afloat, which is a big jump from the emotional turmoil from their earlier songs on the album such as “My Mind is a Mountain.”
“Milk of the Madonna”
With guitar and drumming reminiscent of 90s era Godsmack, this second single feels like a tribute to the sound of the late 90s-early 2000s rock and metal. It’s really exciting to see the band bring elements from their past material, showing they never forgot their origins. With a lot of 90s and 2000s bands returning to the studio in the past few years, it’s safe to say that the Y2K era has made a welcome return.Â
The only negative thing we have to say about this album overall is it does have a few issues in its mixing and mastering: the vocals tend to get drowned out by the instruments, especially by the guitars, and the music is mastered too loud, which causes it to sound artificially loud even at low volumes. Perhaps the mixing and mastering is different on the CD and vinyl releases than digital but, because most listeners will be using some form of digital copy to enjoy the album on the go or while studying, they’re still something to critique.
Overall, Private Music is a great comeback for a band with 35+ years under their belt. With Moreno utilizing different vocal techniques, unique uses of synths and guitars to blend together into really unique sound effects, and creative usage of transitions between songs in the style of Linkin Park’s Meteora, it’s clear that the band spent a lot of time and effort to put this album together. If this truly is their last full-length album, we hope they will focus on making EPs and release the occasional single. Anything to get more of what they’ve got in store.
