I can hardly believe it. Yesterday, April 13th, was the one-year anniversary of the passing of Deftones bassist Chi Cheng, who spent years in a coma following a devastating automobile collision in 2008. At that time, the band had just wrapped up sessions for an album called Eros, which the band had shelved since then. In memory of Cheng, frontman Chino Moreno uploaded a previously unheard of track from Eros titled ‘Smile‘ to his YouTube page, and you can stream it below.
This is actually the first officially released music from that album, and it’s a big deal. This period of the band was mired with thoughts of disbandment and loss. ‘Smile‘ is haunting and dark, but it’s also quite beautiful and hopeful. We’re fortunate to be able to hear this recording, but it’s a shame it had to come at the loss of an influential musician and a friend to many. Hopefully we get to hear more from Eros, because if ‘Smile‘ is representative of the record as a whole, then it doesn’t deserve to be lost in time.
– JR