Is music a truly private experience? There’s a joke to be made about accessibility in art and how most of what we love is just a click away. But what if this were not the case? Would we still connect with music as frequently, as deeply, if we had to graft that little bit harder for these works? Possibly. When you can stay up until midnight or enjoy a morning coffee with a new release, it feels like a part of life. We take for granted the momentum these bands are relying on with those everyday listeners. Private Music, the latest release from Deftones, is a keen example of this. Many listeners will still define the band by Around the Fur. The rest of their albums to follow may as well be private music. There we go. But five years on from Ohms and Deftones has added eleven satisfyingly heavy songs to their repertoire.
Those who still define the band by Around the Fur, White Horses, also, will be delighted with Private Music. What the band needed was a release of that same quality. Private Music is that. Embrace the chaos is the message, and where many bands would fall here, Deftones does not. Private Music is a monumental rallying cry from the band, a howl into that ever-present void which has not been heard in years. A segue between My Mind Is a Mountain and Locked Club makes it an inseparable, powerful opening pair of songs. Heavy, of the times alternative-sounding metal. There is plenty of it to go around, and much of it going unheard. But Deftones’ consistencies in the genre are an ongoing treat. Occasionally, a band will provide a reformed style to their music. A sudden change which, while keeping the genre fundamentals, is a shift away from predictable material. Infinite Source is brilliant. A song of clear purpose and, amid those crashing guitars, is a moving message.
Innovation is not key here. Private Music is more for those who enjoyed the previous releases. What changed, then? Deftones lands on a series of stronger sounds, lyrical qualities, which were not hitting together on previous releases. It’s more happenstance than anything, but also a very respectable commitment to doing what your band are defined by, but still trying to push through with meaningful work. Their range is still clear. Stripped-back tones on Souvenir bring a stop to the exhilarating heavy rock sound and bring in a moment of reflection, a break from the madness to assess where you are and whether your limbs are still attached after flailing around. It’ll be a nice safety check during the mosh. They are keen to ditch the heaviness in the mid-section, with I Think About You All the Time a magnificent switch-up from the band.
Strong and atmospheric consistencies are not a given but are expected from Deftones. Private Music is an exemplary moment from the band, a happenstance overlap of strong writing with active, thrilling instrumentals. Steadiness is a rarity, but Deftones has it. Album closer Departing the Body is an excellent blur of those heavier materials and the lighter touch heard in parts of Private Music. Producer Nick Raskulinecz is the key here. He links back to that sound Deftones had a decade ago, and though the band has not gone anywhere, it felt like they had hit a lull over their last few albums. Private Music puts them right back where they belong, at the very top of alternative metal. They do not push for major overhauls of the genre or changes to their fundamental sound, but the subtler moments are presented with such confidence, the minor changes made to sound massive. It works brilliantly.
