'Face Down in the Garden': A love letter for you from Tennis

Tennis is a duo group composed of husband Patrick and wife Alaina that was born in a Denver, Colorado garage 15 years ago. The last decade and a half has brought a cornucopia of intuitive melodies and eccentric arrangements that feel somehow unfamiliar and nostalgic. I credit this to both the late 70s and early 80s soft rock vibe and the ways in which Tennis takes musical inspiration from life around them.

Face Down in the Garden is the final album that will be released by this duo as Tennis after 15 years of music. 15 years of writing, performing, and touring comes through in this album in the form of incredibly raw lyrics and melodies. While touring for Pollen, Patrick and Alaina had a series of unfortunate events: chronic illness diagnosis, blown tires, and a doomed sailing voyage found home in the album; each song feels like a dedication to a moment and a memory. Tennis has a way of making the album feel like a diary that reflects on moments of love, connection, family, and self-introspection and, in a way, you feel this sense of running and hiding away in memories of better times in search of comfort and love. The album itself feels like a thank you to the fans for living alongside Patrick and Alaina through their musical journey and becoming one of those memories.

In Denver, Colorado there is a vinyl shop larger than anything I’ve seen in my own hometown of Corpus Christi. Aisles of vinyl, DVDs, and CDs span as through the building in a maze of musical memories. Face Down in the Garden feels like that. Each song on the album feels like finding a second hand vinyl older than yourself and listening to it for the first time with the store headphones cranked up while the world fades from around you. It feels modern in its newness to you, but classic in the way its paper cover is creased and yellowed with age from years of handling from its dozens of owners before you. If you’re the kind of person that loves a song with a story and a band with a life well lived, you’re sure to love Face Down in the Garden.

Rating - 4/5