Deftones - Private Music

Private Music arrived in 2025 as Deftones' tenth studio album, an eleven-song set that ended the longest gap of their career and drew some of the strongest reviews they have ever received.

The record reunites the band with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who helmed Diamond Eyes and Koi No Yokan, and marks the first studio appearance of bassist Fred Sablan, who co-wrote the material after several years on the road with them. Chino Moreno also picked up more guitar than usual, and the album went on to earn a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album.

That signature pull between crushing heaviness and shoegaze haze is fully intact. Opener and lead single "My Mind Is a Mountain" sets the tone, and "Milk of the Madonna" followed it as the second single. Moreno's lyrics keep returning to nature, its beauty and its danger, while Rich Costey's mix gives the guitars enormous weight without smothering the details.

"Metal Dream" ebbs and surges in long waves, and "Departing the Body" stretches the finale out to almost six minutes, leaving the album on a lingering note.

Lean and focused, it stands as a late-career high from a band that has spent more than three decades refusing to sit still.