(Credits: Far Out / Sophie Muller / Album Cover / Sven Mandel)
Sat 7 March 2026 5:00, UK
Deftones may be renowned for their macabre, brutal strain of metal that has carried them from nu metal’s beginnings to modern-day metal saviours, but there is more that lurks beneath their surface.
Despite their roots in metal and alternative, Deftones have always resisted definition, instead choosing to blend their cast of influences to distort metal’s otherwise strict boundaries and reimagine how the genre can hold true to its vitality, while expanding its sonic and emotional spectrums. Heard most emphatically in vocalist Chino Moreno’s vocals, which could easily oscillate from conveying lovesick longing to relentless anger, Deftones’ range has remained boundless.
For Moreno, credit for Deftones’ versatility can be lent to his personal taste, which does not particularly even lean towards metal. Vocally, he looks to everyone from Faith No More’s Mike Patton, to Prince, to PJ Harvey, icons who harness their own range and style. Many of these inspirations weaved their way into Deftones’ sound, including a surprising nod to the stunning artistry of Sade. The band recorded a cover of her hit ‘No Ordinary Love’, initially released as a B-side to their 2000 single ‘Change (In the House of Flies)’ and later featured on two compilations: 2005’s B-Sides and Rarities and 2011’s Covers.
Moreno first heard ‘No Ordinary Love’ as a teenager and was immediately enchanted, citing it as a primary inspiration. “It’s sort of classy, another cocktail and cityscape record,” he described to The Quietus of Sade’s fourth album, 1992’s Love Deluxe, on which ‘No Ordinary Love’ is the opening track and lead single.
“Her voice is equally soothing as the music,” he said, “And it’s rare that you have a singer with that sort of voice [that] sits so well over the music.”
(Credits: Deftones / We Are Indigo)
Intriguingly, Moreno’s voice has a similar effect at the helm of Deftones. When he’s not bursting into blood-curdling screams and shrieks, his voice grounds you into the harsh, confrontational instrumentals. Particularly on their rendition of ‘No Ordinary Love’, his voice sparsely goes beyond a yearning cry. Their cover – as well as many of the inclusions on Covers – was a stark departure from the thrash-invoking breakdowns and screams that Deftones fans were accustomed to, but they were a glimpse into where their melodic leanings stemmed from.
Still, to interpret a voice as singular as Sade’s was an intimidating feat for Moreno, who described the choice to include ‘No Ordinary Love’ on the album as “sacred ground, because, as an artist, Sade’s unique,” he admitted to The Guardian.
“Even when we were recording it, it felt like a very self-indulgent thing to be doing,” he continued. First recorded in Moreno’s garage, it was not intended to be heard by anyone outside of the band, and the thought of it being released was “scary”. He confesses that, had he been asked to record a Sade cover, faced with the idea of the singer herself hearing it, he would have refused.
Eventually making its way onto Covers, Deftones’ interpretation of ‘No Ordinary Love’ found its home alongside covers of The Cure’s ‘If Only Tonight We Could Sleep’, The Smiths’ ‘Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want’, and Duran Duran’s ‘The Chauffeur’. For Moreno, in particular, the choices for Covers came from a sort of secrecy that he felt was within his music taste, one that differed from his peers as a middle schooler, discovering British new wave and alternative.
“I felt very… selective, that I had this music that nobody else knew about,” he explained to The Guardian. “And there’s things there that I’ve carried over to Deftones. We’re still a hard rock/metal group, but I’ve snuck some of those influences in. And it’s not shoehorned; it’s very natural, because I genuinely have an affinity with this music.”
While perhaps unexpected by the average listener, Deftones’ cover of Sade’s classic song is a gorgeous tribute, showing the layers to their artistry that make them one of metal’s most fascinating forces.