Private Music (album)


Private Music is the tenth studio album by American alternative metal band Deftones. It was released on August 22, 2025, through Reprise and Warner Records. 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 and Koi No Yokan. It is the band's first album to feature the group's touring bassist, Fred Sablan. 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 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. 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. Private Music has been described as alternative metal and shoegaze.

Critical reception

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". 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."

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes and Tidal.

Deftones

Additional contributors