An indie pop band is breaking hearts and breaking up, hitting the road one last time for their farewell North American tour.
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Tennis, the husband-and-wife duo of Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley, first made waves in 2010 with their debut single, “Baltimore.” Now, more than a decade later, they’ve announced their decision to bring their journey as Tennis to a close.
In a heartfelt message shared on Instagram, the band revealed that their upcoming album, Face Down In The Garden, will be their final release under the Tennis name. To honor their beginnings, they’ll also release Neutral Poetry: First Recordings, Unreleased Demos 2009-2010, an EP featuring never-before-heard tracks from their early days.
Following these releases, Tennis will embark on one last North American tour, marking the end of an era for their devoted fans. Tennis has unveiled their new song, “12 Blown Tires,” alongside the announcement. This tender, heartfelt ballad features lyrics that inspired the title of their album, Face Down In The Garden.
“On a cross-country drive at the end of tour, our van and trailer blew four tires in quick succession,” Moore wrote in the caption about the new song. “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.”
Indie Pop Band Tennis Thanks Fans For 15 Years of Support
She continued: “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,” Moore added. “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.”
Face Down In The Garden was released on April 25 through the band’s own label, Mutually Detrimental. Meanwhile, the upcoming EP, Neutral Poetry: First Recordings, Unreleased Demos 2009-2010, is set to drop on May 16. Their current tour runs through September.