The husband-wife group “Tennis” is back after their three-year break in preparation for their upcoming and last album. The duo, known for their dreamy music that represents their globetrotting background is one of my favorite styles. Longtime fans were thrilled by the band’s return especially with this being their last music release ever, but after years of anticipation, do the songs live up to expectations?
Weight of Desire
The song has a promising start with a both polished and immersive production. The ethereal beat instantly draws you in, and the smooth vocals only add to it, making it feel almost surrealist. It fosters a nice and intimate feeling, while also creating some sort of distance at the same time– very unique for most of the songs I listen to.
Unfortunately, this quickly turns into a repetitive groove and the song never really evolves. The melody loops and with no real chorus and little progression, the song becomes more of a background track. While the song harbors some sort of groove”- it just really ends where it begins.
Perhaps the repetition is intentional, but I really would have preferred a bit more variety, especially because this was the first song they have released in three years. With such a long hiatus, I would have appreciated the band to have taken more risks–this track just felt rather safe. Again, the song is not bad by any means. In fact, as previously mentioned, I did really enjoy the beat and the vocals overall. The vibe of the song is great, but overall, it didn’t blow me away.
Rating: 5/10
At the Wedding
This song, however, is a different story. Similar to “Weight of Desire,” this song starts out strong from the jump. “Tennis” certainly knows how to make an introduction, but this time, the song continues to build. The beat is more dynamic and the lyrics are much more reflective. Overall, this song just feels like it has more purpose.
This song has depth. Not only does it foster an amazing melody, but to top it off, the lyricism is brilliant. Not only are the lyrics emotional, but they also have a memorable aspect that I longed for in the previous song. The song’s versatility also was a big factor in my enjoyment of the song. I felt like I would only really listen to the previous song passively or when I was doing work. However, “At the Wedding”, allows for active or passive listens in a wide range of settings or moods..
While it is on the longer side, at 4 minutes, 38 seconds, the song earns its runtime. Overall, “At my Wedding” is definitely playlist worthy and left an impression.
Rating: 8.5/10
Final thoughts
As a relatively longtime fan, I was genuinely excited for the return of “Tennis.” Again, the songs always tend to have an almost dreamlike and surrealist feel to them, which other artists don’t usually offer. However, despite starting strong with similar feelings, “Weight of Desire” missed the mark for me and was not what I hoped for in the band’s return.
On the contrary, “At the Wedding” reinforced what I already knew about the group– they had more to say. This song is much more textured and overall more musically satisfying, capturing my excitement for the upcoming album.
Overall, I always like the dreamy, and slower paced songs as this is really what makes Tennis who they are. But, I also believe that after a long break, the band needed to come out with more of a bang to justify their long break.
The two newly released singles are a mixed bag, but were just strong enough to leave me curious for what the album will hold.
