††† (Crosses) – the electropop side-project of Deftones’ Chino Moreno – have returned with a breezy new cover song, putting their minimalistic, yet paradoxically energetic spin on Q Lazzarus’ 1988 track ‘Goodbye Horses’.

It marks the first release from Crosses in just days shy of a year, with a Cause & Effect cover, ‘The Beginning Of The End’, landing last December 26. That track came as somewhat of comeback single – before it, Crosses’ last release was their eponymous 2014 album.

Fans of the project will also note that Moreno and co. have taken a crack at ‘Goodbye Horses’ once before, releasing a cover of the song – which famously appeared in the 1991 film The Silence Of The Lambs – shortly after their aforementioned debut hit shelves. The new version shines a little brighter, though, with a crisper mix and more refined, widescreen production.

Have a listen to Crosses’ new cover of ‘Goodbye Horses’, then check out the 2014 version below:

In a post to Crosses’ social media pages, the band confirmed that more new music was on the way, slating their next release for Spring 2022. It comes after the band signed to Warner Records earlier this week, with member Shaun Lopez (who also plays in post-hardcore outfit Far) sharing the news in an Instagram post.

At the time of writing, Crosses are yet to reveal exactly what their plans for the future entail, or whether ‘Goodbye Crosses’ will be a part of any bigger release.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ?????? (@shaunlopez)

Prior to the release of their Cause & Effect cover, Moreno said last October that he was keen to revisit the Crosses project. “The best part about it for me,” he said, “was [that] no-one knew we were making [the 2014 album]. We put it out as EPs first and we just kinda dropped out of nowhere.

“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 [previously unreleased material] finalised… finished up.”

Meanwhile, Deftones are gearing up for a huge year in 2022. In addition to their North American headline tour in support of 2020 album ‘Ohms’, the band will appear at festivals like Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park, Graspop Metal Meeting and Download.

In a five-star review of ‘Ohms’, NME’s James McMahon said: “While it’s not explicit at all – lyricist Chino Moreno has rarely signposted what on earth it is he’s singing about – you can feel both pain and catharsis all through Deftones’ ninth studio album. It’s heavy stuff, both sonically and in emotional clout.”

Back in November, Deftones launched their own cannabis collection. The band teamed up with California-based cannabis brand Golden Barn for the venture, saying the first product in the line – dubbed ‘The Passenger Box’ – had a “great scent” and “tastes just like it smells”.