DEFTONES Frontman Talks New Album

February 5, 2010

William Goodman of SPIN.com recently conducted an interview with DEFTONES frontman Chino Moreno. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

SPIN.com: What can fans expect from the new album?

Moreno: The dynamics DEFTONES are known for — aggressive overtones and lush openness. They're on opposite sides of the spectrum, but we meld them together without sounding contrived. There are a few heavy songs, too, like our first couple records, and there are also experimental tunes -- but there's not a minute on this record that feels like it doesn't need to be there. Each sound complements the other. I'll straight-up say it: it's definitely one of our best albums.

SPIN.com: It must have been a tough decision to ditch [the previously recorded DEFTONES album] "Eros" after [bassist Chi] Cheng's injury and start over.

Moreno: It really was. But we didn't can it completely — we still have "Eros". It's a really experimental, dark record for us, and it's special because it's the last thing that Chi played on. We've put in the vault and will release it when the time is right — hopefully when Chi is back on his feet. But when the accident happened, we just didn't want to be in that time anymore. We had to start looking to the future. We needed to create something more optimistic.

SPIN.com: What direction are you going in lyrically?

Moreno: Well, I've been wanting to record a fantasy album like "White Pony", where the lyrics are less, "This is my life and this is what we're going through." It helps take us away from reality. I don't like listening to people's problems — I like music. Music has been smothered with that complaining since the early-'90s. It gets old. Instead of going to the opposite side of the spectrum and listening to BLACK EYED PEAS, which is just straight silly, I choose to listen to more instrumental music. I do very little singing about myself on this record. I love songs where I can totally take myself out of being human. I can sing about really odd things, and they don't necessarily have to pertain to me at all. It paints a picture. Those are the kind of lyrics I grew up with — like THE CURE. Really visual images and no storytelling.

Read the entire interview from SPIN.com.

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