"One Night with the Valet" Released: November 15, 2022
"Let's Make a Mistake Tonight" Released: January 10, 2023
"Forbidden Doors" Released: February 1, 2023
Pollen is the sixth studio album by the musical duo Tennis, released via their own label Mutually Detrimental on February 10, 2023.[2] It was preceded by the singles "One Night with the Valet",[3] "Let's Make a Mistake Tonight",[4] and "Forbidden Doors".[5] The album received acclaim from critics.
Pollen received a score of 76 out of 100 based on seven critics' reviews on review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6] Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Tim Sendra opined that Pollen's main point of difference in Tennis' catalogue is its "occasional distorted guitar, a little more bump in the rhythm section, and overall punchier production" and that while the "small deviations might feel drastic at first, [...] the sum of the parts is still as pleasant as ever once the album ends".[7]
Everett Amber Ellis of Exclaim! found the album, along with its predecessor Swimmer, to be "indebted to the sparkle of the '80s—albeit the more restrained and sophisticated side of a decade infamous for its more gaudy tastes", and "front-heavy as most Tennis albums are", writing that its "highlights lie largely in its singles".[8] Evie Gower of Gigwise described the album as "filled to the brim with dream pop synthesisers and a melding of strings, a mixture of classical and contemporary components that make Alaina Moore's voice as ethereal as ever", as well as a "funky backdrop of various instruments and vocal tones" with lyrics that feel like "a love letter to the highs and lows of life".[9]
Eric Mason of Slant Magazine wrote that Moore and Riley "take one step closer to the present by interspersing their 20th-century callbacks with nods to turn-of-the-millennium pop-rock" on Pollen, finding the "common thread" that ties the album's songs together is "escapism, whether it be the isolation of the open sea or the insular behind-the-scenes goings on of a hotel".[11] Adlan Jackson of Pitchfork felt that the duo's "persistent melodies quiver with the same earnestness as always, and their self-production continues to hit its stride", elaborating that "the overall airiness on Pollen gives the sense that Tennis are continuing to have a blast making music that glides from one hook to the next."[10]
Track listing
All tracks are written by and produced by Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley
Pollen track listing
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Forbidden Doors"
3:54
2.
"Glorietta"
4:01
3.
"Let's Make a Mistake Tonight"
4:14
4.
"One Night with the Valet"
1:53
5.
"Pollen Song"
3:53
6.
"Hotel Valet"
3:54
7.
"Paper"
3:00
8.
"Gibraltar"
3:57
9.
"Never Been Wrong"
3:26
10.
"Pillow for a Cloud"
3:11
Total length:
35:23
Personnel
Alaina Moore – vocals, synthesizers, piano, guitar and production
Patrick Riley – guitars, bass guitars, synthesizers, auxiliary percussion, drum programming and production
Steve Voss – drums and engineering assistance
Griffith James – ambient noise on "Gibraltar"
Alan Sumler – Latin translation on "Never Been Wrong"
