Deftones’ “Private Music”– Underwhelming in Comparison

“private music,” Deftones’ new album, follows the longest hiatus in the band’s career and faced insanely high expectations. The tenth studio album from the group and five years removed from their previous album, many news sources, critics, and fans online were overwhelmingly pleased with the new project as it checked every box of things they wanted.

While clearly the minority, others (myself included) were left underwhelmed and disappointed.

“private music” combines elements of the band’s previous albums in a seemingly obvious fashion.

While sounding most similar to their 2020 album, “Ohms,” the new project blends elements from across Deftones’ discography. Polished, concise, and well-produced, it’s a predictable next step for the band.

The problem with the album lies in its dynamics. Deftones has a way of mixing both crushing, heavy riffs with screaming (such as “Rockey Skates” from the album “Diamond Eyes”) and beautiful, melodic guitars with angelic vocals (such as “Entombed” from the album “Koi No Yokan”) into every single album. “private music” is more of the same, but with neither side explored to the fullest.

The clean production and noticeably compressed vocal performances dull the project, making it an unadventurous and safe listen without either extreme.

Consistency is vital to every Deftones project and is no different here. The consistency, however, lies in every song being solid, but neither forgettable nor very memorable.

“private music” has a few standouts in the melancholic. “i think about you all the time” and the aggressive anthem “cut hands,” but even these songs don’t hold a candle to the standouts of albums prior.

While still a good listen with strong songwriting, great pacing, and even better performances, Deftones fail to meet the bar set by their own amazing discography.

“private music” is a great album without a doubt; just a rather one-note and lackluster Deftones album.