Private Music (album)

Private Music
Cover featuring a white corn snake. Select editions feature a purple background, and the cassette release features a blue background.
Studio album by
Deftones
ReleasedAugust 22, 2025 (2025-08-22)[1]
Studio
  • Amaraycan (North Hollywood)
  • Dead Aunt Thelma's (Portland)
  • EastWest (Hollywood)
  • Rock Falcon (Nashville)
  • Sienna (Nashville)
GenreAlternative metal[2]
Length42:22
Label
Producer
Deftones chronology
Ohms
(2020) 		Private Music
(2025)
Singles from Private Music
  1. "My Mind Is a Mountain"
    Released: July 10, 2025
  2. "Milk of the Madonna"
    Released: August 8, 2025[3]

Private Music (stylized in all lowercase) is the tenth studio album by American alternative metal band Deftones. It was released on August 22, 2025, through Reprise and Warner Records.[4][5] It was preceded by two singles, "My Mind Is a Mountain" and "Milk of the Madonna". The album was produced by Nick Raskulinecz, who previously worked on the band's albums Diamond Eyes (2010) and Koi No Yokan (2012).[1] It is the band's first album to feature the group's touring bassist, Fred Sablan.[6] The band's first studio album since 2020's Ohms, Private Music marks the longest release gap between two Deftones albums. The album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards.

Background

Private Music marks the first Deftones album since Diamond Eyes (2010) not to feature bassist Sergio Vega, who left the band in 2021. Fred Sablan, who became the group's touring bassist a year later, cowrote and played on the album.[7] Moreno performed more of the guitar parts on Private Music than previous albums due to Stephen Carpenter’s health problems which were later diagnosed as type 2 diabetes.[8] Private Music has been described as alternative metal[2] and shoegaze.[9]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.4/10[10]
Metacritic90/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Clash9/10[13]
DIY[14]
Kerrang!5/5[15]
The Line of Best Fit9/10[16]
Louder Than War[17]
Metal Hammer[18]
NME[19]
Pitchfork7.6/10[20]
Sputnikmusic4.4/5[21]

Critical

Private Music was met with widespread acclaim from music critics upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 90, based on fourteen reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[11] Additionally, DIY said that track "Metal Dream" "embodies the ebb and flow most, taking the frontman back to the verge of nu metal rap with remarkable precision, far from cliche or pastiche, and paired with an ever-mesmerising chorus." NME's Andrew Trendell awarded Private Music a full five stars and concluded: "Very much a whole journey through a full-bodied and expansive fever dream, but this time somehow spiritual, intimate and direct, Deftones’ 10th album is a gift for fans old, new, and certainly finding them in the very distant future. Their peers can’t touch them."[22]

Accolades

Year Organization Category Result Ref.
2026 Grammy Awards Best Rock Album Nominated [23]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Chino Moreno; all music is composed by Abe Cunningham, Moreno, Frank Delgado, Fred Sablan and Stephen Carpenter.[24][25]

Private Music track listing
No.TitleLength
1."My Mind Is a Mountain"2:50
2."Locked Club"2:52
3."Ecdysis"3:28
4."Infinite Source"3:32
5."Souvenir"6:10
6."CXZ"3:12
7."I Think About You All the Time"4:08
8."Milk of the Madonna"4:08
9."Cut Hands"3:01
10."Metal Dream"3:02
11."Departing the Body"5:59
Total length:42:22

Notes

  • All songs are stylized in all lowercase, except track 6, which is stylized as "cXz".
  • "Metal Dream" is stylized as "~metal dream".

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes[24] and Tidal.[25]

Deftones

Additional contributors

Charts

References

  1. ^ a b Lipshutz, Jason (July 10, 2025). "Deftones Announce New Album Private Music: Hear First Single 'My Mind Is a Mountain'". Billboard. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Review: 'Private Music' Is A Deftones All-Timer". Forbes. August 22, 2025.
  3. ^ Dunworth, Liberty (August 8, 2025). "Listen to Deftones' thunderous new single 'milk of the madonna'". NME. Archived from the original on August 24, 2025. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
  4. ^ Chelosky, Danielle (July 10, 2025). "Deftones Announce New Album Private Music: Hear 'My Mind Is a Mountain'". Stereogum. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
  5. ^ Rossignol, Derrick (July 10, 2025). "Deftones Are Officially Returning With Private Music, Their First Album In Five Years". Uproxx. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
  6. ^ "DEFTONES Share New Single 'Milk Of The Madonna' From Upcoming 'Private Music' Album". Blabbermouth. August 8, 2025. Retrieved August 19, 2025.
  7. ^ Kennelty, Greg. "Latest NewsHere's Why DEFTONES Took Five Years Between Albums & How Bassist FRED SABLAN Contributed". Metal Injection. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  8. ^ Borg, Janelle. ""We got off stage, he came up to all of us and was like, 'You guys, I'm really sorry that I played so bad'": Chino Moreno opens up on how Stephen Carpenter's health problems forced him to play more guitar on Deftones' new album". Guitar World. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  9. ^ "Deftones Persisted for Decades. A New Generation Is Feeling the Noise". The New York Times. August 20, 2025.
  10. ^ "Private Music by Deftones". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  11. ^ a b "private music by Deftones Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  12. ^ Yeung, Neil Z. "private music - Deftones". AllMusic. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
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  14. ^ Tipple, Ben. "Deftones - Private Music". DIY. Archived from the original on August 22, 2025. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
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  18. ^ Hill, Stephen (August 19, 2025). "Deftones - Private Music review: the most complete and essential album Deftones have made in a very long time and the perfect record for their late-period career renaissance". Metal Hammer. Archived from the original on August 22, 2025. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
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  23. ^ Atkinson, Katie (November 7, 2025). "Grammy Nominations 2026: See the Complete List". Billboard. Retrieved February 10, 2026.
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