In a newly published interview with Moshpit Passion, Deftones drummer Abe Cunningham spoke of his band’s penchant for placing animals (and now reptiles) on the covers of their albums over the past decade or so.
That topic of conversation came about in regards to the albino snake found on the cover art for his multi-platinum alternative metal band’s impending tenth studio album, “private music“. A song featured on that effort, “ecdysis“, led the interviewer to ask if the snake was a bit more symbolic to the album, given that song’s title references the process of shedding skin in reptiles. Cunningham replied in turn [transcribed by theprp.com]:
“[It] could be a lot things, but that’s the definition of [the word ecdysis.] Of course there’s a snake on the cover. [I] imagine it ties in somehow. But it’s more of a… the image itself was a very striking image, just the way it kind of juxtaposes with the solid background and the green, in the instance of the main record.
And then just the snake — like the owl on ‘Diamond Eyes‘ — the flamingos again on ‘Gore‘, it’s just they were real striking images on their own. [They] didn’t have to mean or connect in any way. I think this may have a bit more connection, obviously with ‘ecdysis‘.
[The snake] was one of the first images that we saw when were were getting the artwork together and we’re like, ‘That’s it, stop. That’s the one'”
When the interviewer then asked if the recurring theme of white in the band’s album covers (‘White Pony‘, the white owl found on ‘Diamond Eyes‘, and now the white snake on ‘private music‘) was an intentional choice or done by accident, Cunningham responded:
“[It was] probably an accident. Maybe just the way like again, it was striking. It was a clean image juxtaposed with whatever was in the background. I don’t think there’s too much more than that. Maybe there is?”
Elsewhere in the chat, Cunningham hinted that the group have something special planned around the release of “private music“, though it’s unclear if that may have been the the listening parties they announced late last week, as the interview could have been conducted prior to that reveal.
This week will see the kickoff of the band’s latest North American touring in support of that upcoming new record. Read on for the dates they have booked:
With Phantogram & The Barbarians Of California:
08/22 Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
08/24 Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place
08/25 Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
08/27 Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Centre
08/29 Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
08/30 Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum
09/01 Buffalo, NY – Key Bank Center
09/07 Quebec City, QC – Centre Videotron
With IDLES & The Barbarians Of California:
09/08 Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
09/10 Cleveland, OH – Rocket Arena
09/11 Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena
09/13 St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center
09/15 Denver, CO – Ball Arena
09/17 Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center
With System Of A Down, Polyphia & Wisp:
09/03 Toronto, ON – Rogers Stadium
09/05 Toronto, ON – Rogers Stadium
Deftones:
09/19 Atlanta, GA – Shaky Knees
09/20 Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life
10/03 Sacramento, CA – Aftershock
11/16 Mexico City, MEX – Corona Capital
With Denzel Curry & Drug Church:
01/29 Paris, FRA – Adidas Arena
01/30 Brussels, BEL – Forest National
02/01 Hamburg, GER – Barclays Arena
02/03 Munich, GER – Zenith
02/05 Lodz, POL – Atlas Arena
02/06 Berlin, GER – Max-Schmeling-Halle
02/07 Dortmund, GER – Westfalenhalle
02/09 Stuttgart, GER – Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
02/10 Amsterdam, NET – AFAS Live
02/12 Birmingham, UK – BP Pulse Live
02/13 Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
02/14 Manchester, UK – Co-Op Live
02/16 Dublin, IRE – 3Arena
02/18 Cardiff, UK – Utilita Arena
02/20 London, UK – The O2
