Deftones came out with their 10th studio album, “Private Music,” on Aug. 22. The intimate and esoteric piece of work marks a new era for the nu metal band.

The Sacramento-based band recently gained popularity among young listeners despite being started in 1988. Songs like “Change (In the House of Flies)”, and “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)” were trending on TikTok in 2022. Ever since, Deftones have become relevant among Generation Z.

With Chino Moreno’s, lead vocalist, sultry and intense vocals paired with the band’s arcane sound and lyricism, “Private Music” takes us on a dreamlike journey that touches on mental health, the ruthlessness of Mother Earth and themes of death and rebirth.

“My Mind is a Mountain” is the first song on the album, which sets a tone that is both twisted and soft. It’s about accepting our fate and the storm that is coming. Moreno sings about feeling stuck, giving the song a bleak impression.

“We’ve been waiting here patiently / locked in this state, clocking our time.”

The mind is a mountain to be crossed, and that takes patience, work and acceptance.

The themes of new fate, endings and beginnings continue in the second track, “Locked Club.” The song starts off reminiscent of Deftones’ earlier albums, with a more heavy style. 

The song touches on spiritual themes such as a God or a higher power, collective power and chaos. These are all themes that are very relevant in today’s world.

“Milk of the Madonna,” the eighth track on the album, also contains biblical references. Band members sing about the rapture and lyrics like, “Holy Spirit / I’m on fire,” attribute the purge to Mother Nature suffering from climate change.

Track three, “Ecdysis,” is also about climate change. The song begins with, “Can we sit here, silent / just hoping to survive herein? / Watch it cut through acreage dividing.” It continues with lyrics like, “A symbol of our plague,” Moreno sang. “Constant rivers rising / swollen streams dividing,” and “These rains are divine / reclaim their environment.” 

The song is saying that we are the plague that the Earth is shedding itself of us in the process of ecdysis.

“Souvenir” and “I Think About You All the Time” are love songs. What good is an album if it doesn’t have at least one love song? 

Both songs are about connections that surpass our plane of existence, and they exist in space and time. Souvenir contains a beautiful and melancholic two-minute transition into “CX2”, a conventional pop punk song about reliving trauma.

The album’s fourth track, “Infinite Source,” is for the fans. 

It’s objectively the most upbeat song of a rather moody album, and the band expresses gratitude, though there’s a sense that they’re saying goodbye.

“Last time adorning the stage / with love we’ve chased and found … our final wave and bow,” Moreno sang.  

Deftones is currently on a world tour. Does this mean this will be their final tour or album? Regardless, the song is a beautiful ode to the fans and the band’s longtime career.

The final track, “Departing the Body,” marks the end of the journey. The mountain has been climbed and a new beginning awaits. 

At first listen, Moreno’s voice is completely unrecognizable, deeper but still sensual. “… surprise, surprise, we made it.”