Tennis – Pollen
The indie power couple Tennis are back with a heavy dose of bright and breezy synth-rock tunes for their sixth studio album, Pollen. The record begins with Forbidden Doors, an infectious opener that ticks a lot of boxes: swirly melodies, catchy choral hooks and disco beats. The album swiftly rolls into slightly heavier territory with an injection of rock-rhythms in Glorietta, an atmospheric alt-rock entry where Moore’s breathy vocals take on a slight drawl, and Tennis summon their inner-Cranberries. It’s a track with serious style – the brief hiatus’ interspersed throughout where the acoustic guitar rhythms are allowed to stand tall, before the willowy vocals lurch the listener forward into a biting chorus, are particularly moving.
Let’s Make a Mistake Tonight, a twinkly, disco-inspired pop outing is a whimsical affair, comprised of pulsating percussion and shimmery club synths. It’s catchy, with clean hooks and a hypnotic beat, but somehow it feels like Tennis are pulling their punches, which is only exacerbated by its run-time that begins to dull the edges of an otherwise solid track for the pair.
The disco-pop gives way momentarily to the syrupy neo-soul groove of the oh-too-brief One Night With the Valet, which opens with a thumping kick drum, a woozy cyclical piano riff and Moore’s wispy vocals: it’s an intoxicating rush of sleepy, R&B rhythms infused with their staple dream-pop. Pollen Song – a lush and mesmerising meld of acoustic guitar, sultry vocals and tick-tacky percussion – is Tennis at their finest. It’s light and airy, and Moore’s pitch-perfect voice drifts atop a layered surface of the rolling, light strums of guitar, the jangle of chimes and Moore’s own ethereal backing vocals.
Pollen is a uniform outing from the husband-and-wife duo that pools a wide range of inspirations from disco, acoustic-pop, synth-rock and R&B to name a few, and culminates in an uplifting springtime listen that endeavours to propel you into the clouds and keep you floating there for a good 30 minutes.
Ronan Fawsitt
Image: Luca Venter
Pollen is released on 10th February 2023. For further information or to order the album visit Tennis’s website here.
Watch the video for the single Glorietta here:
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