After a five-year recording hiatus, Deftones are back. The influential alt-metal band has officially announced their new studio album, Private Music, due out August 22 via Reprise and Warner Records. Alongside the announcement, the group unveiled the album’s lead single, “My Mind Is a Mountain,” offering fans their first taste of the upcoming project.

Private Music marks the Deftones’ first album since 2020’s Ohms, and features longtime members Chino Moreno (vocals), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Frank Delgado (keyboards, samples). The album was co-produced by the band and Nick Raskulinecz, a familiar collaborator who previously worked with them on 2010’s Diamond Eyes and 2012’s Koi No Yokan. Recording took place across several scenic locations, including Malibu and Joshua Tree in California, as well as sessions in Nashville, Tennessee.

The artwork for Private Music features a stark white snake set against a bright green backdrop, a clean and deliberate visual choice in line with Deftones' long-standing attention to aesthetic detail. The album includes 11 tracks, with titles like “Souvenir,” “Cut Hands,” “Metal Dream,” and “Departing the Body.” While the full sound of the record has yet to be revealed, the lead single points to a familiar blend of layered atmospheres and heavy guitar work.

The release of Private Music will be accompanied by a tour kicking off in Vancouver on the night of the album’s release. From there, the band will make stops across North America, including dates in Minneapolis, Buffalo, Toronto, Cleveland, Baltimore, St. Louis, Denver, Louisville, and Sacramento. Deftones will also appear at several festivals along the way.

Deftones’ previous album, Ohms, was released in September 2020, just as the music industry was adjusting to the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic. That album included standout tracks like “Genesis,” “The Spell of Mathematics,” and “Ceremony,” and was followed by a 2021 tour once live music resumed. While was praised for its tight production and reflective lyricism, fans have been eager for the next chapter, and Private Music appears poised to deliver.

The band’s latest offering continues a legacy that spans over 30 years. Since their debut in the mid-1990s, Deftones have consistently refused to be boxed in, melding metal, shoegaze, trip-hop, and experimental rock into a catalog that is both aggressive and artful. Their return with Private Music not only marks a new era but also reaffirms their place as one of the genre’s most enduring and innovative acts.

Private Music Track List

My Mind Is a Mountain

Locked Club

Ecdysis

Infinite Source

Souvenir

CXZ

I Think About You All the Time

Milk of the Madonna

Cut Hands

Metal Dream

Departing the Body