Deftones frontman Chino Moreno has unveiled a music video for “The Beginning of the End,” a cover of ’90s electropop group Cause & Effect by his side project ††† (Crosses). The track is the first piece of new music to come from the band since the release of their 2014 self-titled debut.
Rounding out Moreno in the lineup is Far guitarist Shaun Lopez and, together, they recreate the brooding atmosphere of the original track, which is also marked by bright, minimalist melodic bleeps and bloops and ethereal vocals.
Listen to the cover toward the bottom of the page.
The release of “The Beginning of the End” came as a surprise on Christmas day (Dec. 25) and it’s likely just a teaser of more music to come in 2021. Speaking about the future of the project, Moreno told Bloody Disgusting in October that he had moved to a new place and started work on some unreleased material.
“Now that the Deftones record [Ohms] is done and there’s no touring really in the near future, I kinda have time to work on stuff so I’m definitely going to dig in and see where I can go with that,” offered the singer.
“I really really like that project,” Moreno continued.
“The best part about it for me was no one knew we were making that record even,” he said of the 2014 album, before touching on the pair of EPs that preceded the full length.
“We put it out as EPs first and we just kinda dropped out of nowhere.”
The somewhat hushed process is one Moreno enjoyed immensely, made clear when he said, “Making music without any expectations was super freeing and fun. I really love doing it. I like the guys that I work with in that so I’m gonna try to get some of that stuff finalized … finished up.”
Although the Deftones had to abstain from touring due to the shuttering of the live music industry as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, it was still a busy year for the band, especially in the back half of 2020. Not only did they drop their ninth album, Ohms, to critical acclaim, but they also released a 20th anniversary edition of their White Pony record with a remix edition dubbed Black Stallion which features an array of special guest remixers.
Crosses, “The Beginning of the End” Music Video