5/15/2023 0 Comments My voice memos are in my albums![]() ![]() I’ve always held back a bit, trying to ambiguate the songs to make them more universal. I wanted to write with more pointedness and specificity. It’s a potent experience being off the grid like that, a great counterbalance to being in a band and living a public life. It’s more like an RV we pull out every few years to live on in the wilderness. Patrick and I are still sailors but we don’t sail often. We didn’t want to isolate ourselves at sea, we wanted roots and community. We knew Pollen was going to be a grounded record. Do you still own the boat, and sail around, or are those days behind you?ĪM: We recorded in our home studio, and worked a bit out of a friend’s studio in Los Angeles for a change of scenery. I learned the hard way that belting isn’t very sustainable for me on long tours, so I challenged myself to write in a way that is more sustainable in performances.ĪS: Two Tennis albums ( Cape Dory, Yours Conditionally) were written at sea, while Pollen developed back on land. I’ve also been exploring my voice, noticing that it can take on different timbres and moods that I’ve never attempted on previous records. Changing up our tools, writing routines, and recording process always helps with that. The more we grow as writers and musicians, the more we strive to challenge ourselves. What drew you both to experiment and push the boundaries of sound a bit more on this album?ĪM: Our tastes have solidified at this point, but we don’t want to repeat ourselves. “Forbidden Doors” and “One Night with the Valet” nearly killed us, but it was absolutely worth it in the end.ĪS: Sonically, there was a deliberate shift on Pollen from Swimmer or anything you’ve done before. There are always a few problem songs on each record. It’s a frustrating, circuitous process where we make a lot of progress one day and delete it all the next. Some demos get combined, some are mined for parts, some act as springboards to totally new ideas. ![]() Moore spoke to American Songwriter about how the 10 songs of Pollen emerged, opting for land over sea to make the album, and learning to release all inhibitions while writing.Īmerican Songwriter: What’s the timeline of these 10 tracks? Were some songs older and fleshed out over time, or were they mostly new?Īlaina Moore: We always start fresh, usually with a dozen rough demos, as in maybe a single chord progression that we scale up into songs. Inside are revelations on the relative states of marital bliss on the slowed soulful funk of “One Night with the Valet” and the tantalizing “Let’s Make a Mistake Tonight.” Moore ponders her own perceptions of things on the spacier “Never Been Wrong”- I’ve never been wrong about anything or anyone / Irrefutable as the rising tide or setting sun…It’s like doing needlepoint with a hatchet-and the evolution of Tennis on the dreamier close of “Pillow for a Cloud.” Pollen is Tennis’ most textured offering, a peak in their musical wayfarings over the past decade. ![]()
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