Tennis

BIOGRAPHY

Tennis is Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley. The two met in the philosophy department at the University of Colorado in 2008 after dropping out of their respective music programs. In the years after graduating, they got involved in Denver’s DIY music scene. Through house shows, they were connected with Underwater Peoples and Firetalk. Tennis’ first singles “South Carolina,” “Baltimore,” and “Marathon” were released in 2010. The band went blog-viral nearly overnight, landing them a record deal with Fat Possum.

Cape Dory, (2011 on Fat Possum), documents Moore and Riley’s time spent living aboard a small sailboat on the Atlantic coast. The album debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Heatseeker chart, transitioning Tennis from house-shows to stages such as Lollapalooza. Tennis recorded their sophomore effort Young & Old (2012) with Patrick Carney of the Black Keys. They made their television debut on The Tonight Show, The Late Show, and Conan.

In 2014 they signed with Communion. The resulting release, Ritual in Repeat was the culmination of separate recording sessions with Richard Swift, Jim Eno and Patrick Carney. Moore and Riley were greatly influenced by Richard Swift’s approach to recording and engineering, prompting Riley’s decision to take over as engineer on their future releases. With shifting labels and new interests, Tennis chose an alternate path for their band and career. In 2016, Moore and Riley formed the label Mutually Detrimental and began self-releasing. Their newfound freedom allowed them to return to their sailboat to write their next full-length, this time in the Sea of Cortez. Yours Conditionally, released in 2017, became their most commercially successful album–charting at #4 on Billboard’s Independent list and in the top 100 highest selling vinyl releases that year. They played Coachella and opened for artists like The National, Father John Misty and TheShins–proving their DIY roots as a cornerstone to their sound and narrative.

Their follow up Swimmer (2020), was recorded in their home studio with Moore and Riley producing and engineering. The pair brought their long-time touring member SteveVoss in for the second time to drum on record. The singles, “Need Your Love” and “Runner,” were Tennis’ most successful releases to date. With nearly every show on tour sold-out (including two consecutive nights at Brooklyn Steel) the album’s campaign was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pollen, Tennis’ sixth studio album was released in 2023 by their own label Mutually Detrimental. The LP was met with praise from Pitchfork as “reliably vibey and genuinely inspiring.”

Now making their way toward their seventh studio album, Face Down In The Garden will be released on April 25, 2025. Offsetting intuitive melodies with unusual arrangements, the new album sees the duo returning with music that both feels familiar but also resists convention. Songs like “Weight of Desire,” “At The Wedding,” and “Sister” highlight Tennis’ ever-expanding range as writers and producers, evolving beyond their girl-group roots into what is unquestionably their most fully realized effort to date.

Tennis will mark the arrival of Face Down In The Garden with a wide-ranging North American headline tour beginning May 16 at Las Vegas, NV’s Swan Dive and then traveling into early September. Highlights include such iconic venues as Minneapolis, MN’s First Avenue (May 21), Chicago, IL’s The Salt Shed (May 23), New York City’s The Rooftop at Pier 17 (June 1), Austin, TX’s Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater (June 11), and Los Angeles, CA’s famed Greek Theatre (August 20). Special guests include Husbands (May 16-17), Billie Marten (May 21-June 11), and Alice Phoebe Lou (August 18-September 4).