

On the other hand, the track "Lucky You" is a dark, soft, trip hop-influenced piece featuring DJ Crook from Moreno's side project Team Sleep and vocalist Rey Osburn of Tinfed. Most of the album's songs make extensive use of the band's low G# tuning and Moreno's high screams, resulting in some of the heaviest songs in the band's catalog.

It has a much different feel than prior efforts, due in part to Frank Delgado leaving his turntables behind and instead focusing on playing keyboards and synthesizers.

A leaked track list from a month prior to the album's release featured "Needles & Pins" as the opener, under the title "Aria" The song title and the album's track list were changed at the last minute.ĭeftones is an eclectic album, with songs spanning many different ideas in diverse genres. The band's slow writing and recording pace frustrated Date, as well as their lack of previously composed material when they entered the studio. Deftones was the last album produced by Date, who had collaborated with the band since Adrenaline, due to the vast amount of time spent in the studio. Originally titled Lovers, the album was instead given an eponymous title because singer Chino Moreno considered Lovers too obvious in relation to the context of its material (the former title song "Lovers" did appear as an A-side and B-side on the UK " Hexagram" single).
