Five years since Ohms, Deftones are back with private music, and their new single “My Mind Is A Mountain” already signals a shift. It’s still recognizably Deftones—heavy and beautiful—but there’s a more meditative undercurrent, like the band is chasing ghosts rather than trying to exorcise them.

The single unfolds slowly. Chino Moreno’s voice floats, fractured and yearning, over a backdrop that builds tension without bursting. The drums are restrained. The guitars hum with atmosphere. There’s no need for a dramatic climax; the unease is enough. Deftones have always dealt in texture and tension, but “My Mind Is A Mountain” pulls further inward, as if the weight is no longer in the sound but in the silence between notes.

The band recorded private music in both California and Nashville with producer Nick Raskulinecz, the same mind behind Diamond Eyes and Koi No Yokan. That shared history matters — it gives this record a certain continuity, even as the sound feels more reflective. Titles like “I Think About You All The Time” and “Departing The Body” hint at deeper introspection. Meanwhile, tracks like “~Metal Dream” and “Milk Of The Madonna” suggest Deftones are leaning even further into the surrealism they’ve always flirted with.

This doesn’t feel like a comeback. It feels like a quiet revelation — as if the band has been building private music slowly, carefully, in the background of the last five years. And now that it’s ready, they’re offering it on their terms.

The album drops August 22 via Reprise/Warner Records, followed by a massive North American tour. Two of the Toronto dates include co-headlining sets with System Of A Down, but the rest is all Deftones — which is exactly how it should be.

private music is out 8/22 via Reprise/Warner Records. Find more information here.