Denver indie-poppers Tennis, the duo of married couple Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley, released their debut single "Baltimore" in 2010. That means they've been a band for 15 years -- longer than most actual tennis careers. They're ready to call it a day. Right now, Tennis are announcing a grand farewell. They had already announced plans to release Face Down In The Garden, but now we know that it'll be their last album under the Tennis name. They'll follow it with Neutral Poetry: First Recordings, Unreleased Demos 2009-2010, an EP of previously unreleased music from their earliest days. Then, they'll head out on their final North American tour.
Here's what Alaina Moore has to say about the duo's decision to end Tennis:
Face Down In The Garden is our seventh studio album. The inspiration for new work came while we were still on the road touring [their 2023 LP] Pollen. We felt a clear pull to write new music, but ran up against a series of bizarre setbacks. We blew tires and lost an engine. I developed a chronic illness. We took a doomed voyage that culminated in an attempted robbery at sea. Fragments of songs that first arrived like gifts from the universe later refused to be completed. Our days were awash in major and minor crises that dragged the album out endlessly.
Patrick and I felt out of sync with the world, as though we had been ejected from the flow of life. My response was to bury myself in my own memories. Those years weren’t easier or better, but I could make sense of them. In Face Down In The Garden, I trace the arc of my life through a series of vignettes: a first moment of connection, a conversation at a wedding, a night offshore, a tour diary.
Over the years, our sound has evolved into three distinct categories: Brill Building, synth-pop, and rock. Face Down In The Garden occupies all of that space. Except for the help of some outside drumming, we worked and recorded alone as we have done for the last few albums. We wanted to write ourselves off the map by doing the unexpected thing, offsetting intuitive melodies with unusual arrangements, to make music that feels familiar but resists convention. Despite being rattled by a strange year, it is our most confident album. We are very excited for you to listen, preferably loud and on headphones.
Along with the announcement, Tennis have shared the new song "12 Blown Tires." It's a soft, aching ballad, and its lyrics give Face Down In The Garden its title. Here's what Moore says about the song:
On a cross-country drive at the end of tour, our van and trailer blew four tires in quick succession. That particular stretch of highway was a tire graveyard. I counted the shredded remains of twelve tires from where we sat on the side of the road, swapping out our last spare. Our bad luck was heavily contrasted by the good night we’d just had in Houston. The highs and lows of touring are unnatural, disorienting. On the shoulder of I-40, I began writing the lyrics to "12 Blown Tires." It is a constellation of memories from the road, and of our marriage, two endeavors that are completely, hopelessly entangled.
When we recorded "12 Blown Tires" a few months later, I had the sense of distilling the past 15 years into four minutes of music. It felt like the end of something, though I wasn’t sure what. Patrick and I spent most of our 20s and all of our 30s focused on Tennis. It has been the most joyous, bewildering, challenging, and humbling experience. After finishing Face Down In The Garden, it became clear that we had said everything we wanted to say and achieved everything we wanted to achieve with our band. This will be our last studio album, at least in this configuration as Tennis. We are ready to pursue other creative projects and to make space in our lives for new things. In that light, the upcoming tour feels more poignant, like a concluding thought. These two kids from Denver who only ever dreamed of playing a few house shows are very fulfilled. Perhaps we’ll see you on the road. As always, thank you.
Below, check out Tennis' self-directed "12 Blown Tires" video, the tracklists for Face Down In The Garden and the Neutral Poetry EP, and the dates for their final tour.
Face Down In The Garden:
01 "At The Apartment"
02 "Weight Of Desire"
03 "At The Wedding"
04 "Always The Same"
05 "Sister"
06 "Through The Mirror"
07 "I Can Only Describe You"
08 "12 Blown Tires"
09 "In Love (Release The Doves)"
Neutral Poetry: First Recordings, Unreleased Demos 2009-2010:
01 "South Carolina (Demo Version 11.5.09)"
02 "Marathon (Demo Version 01.14.10)"
03 "Baltimore (Demo Version 09.03.09)"
04 "Pigeon (Demo Version 08.26.09) "
05 "Key Largo (Demo 08.20.09)"
06 "April and It’s Still Snowing (Demo 09.01.09)"
07 "Cape Dory (Demo Version 11.03.09)"
08 "One Day This Will Be a Good Songgg (Demo 01.19.10)"
TOUR DATES:
5/26 - Las Vegas, NV @ Swan Dive *
5/27 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall *
5/28 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party
5/21 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue ^
5/23 - Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed ^
5/24 - Indianapolis, IN @ HI-FI Annex ^
5/25 - Cleveland, OH @ Globe Iron ^
5/27 - Toronto, ON @ The Concert Hall ^
5/30 - Boston, MA @ Roadrunner ^
5/31 - Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall ^
6/01 - New York, NY @ The Rooftop at Pier 17 ^
6/03 - Washington, DC @ The Anthem ^
6/05 - Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz ^
6/06 - Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern ^
6/07 - Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl Nashville ^
6/09 - Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum ^
6/10 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Downstairs) ^
6/11 - Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater ^
8/18 - San Diego, CA @ Humphreys Concerts by the Bay
8/20 - Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre
8/22 - Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy + Harriet’s
8/23 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
8/24 - Santa Fe, NM @ The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing Co.
8/26 - Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom
8/28 - Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Hall
8/29 - Portland, OR @ McMenamins Grand Lodge
8/30 - Vancouver, BC @ Malkin Bowl
9/02 - Sacramento, CA @ Channel 24
9/04 - Saratoga, CA @ The Mountain Winery
* with Husbands
^ with Billie Marten
Face Down In The Garden is out 4/25 on the band's own Mutually Detrimental label. The Neutral Poetry: First Recordings, Unreleased Demos 2009-2010 EP is out 5/16.
