Alaina Moore writes about death and writes about love. Sometimes they’re the same song. Sometimes they’re the same day. And sometimes, she’s just trying to find Wi-Fi on a boat.
The fifth Tennis album, Swimmer, is built from dualities. It’s an album born from grief and kept afloat by love. Written on the sea and recorded on land. It's got yacht vibes, yes—but of the “lost-at-sea, we-might-die-here” variety, not cabana cocktails. “There’s never an instance of slacking off or giving in to your fear,” Alaina tells me. “Or you die.”
So no, they didn’t exactly make Swimmer while gently sipping rosé under a striped sunhat.
Instead, Alaina and husband Patrick Riley spent part of their writing process on a boat in the Sea of Cortez, splitting their days into rotating two-hour shifts. “You sleep in two-hour increments. The rest of the time, you’re the captain. Literally,” she says. “It’s like military life with better scenery.”
There are storms. There’s corrosion. There’s constant maintenance. And there’s zero internet, which is apparently a songwriter’s dream. “You can't look at your phone, you can’t buy anything, and there’s nothing to be bought. The usual distractions are just fully removed,” Alaina explains. “That’s why I like it so much.”
But despite the serenity, Swimmer is not a vacation record. It’s one written during what she describes as “the darkest time in our lives.” Her father-in-law passed away mid-tour. Alaina got the flu, lost consciousness, and was hospitalized. And instead of breaking apart, her marriage got stronger. “I didn’t know there was a level up from what we had,” she says. “But there was.”
Bookending the album are two love songs for Patrick: “I’ll Haunt You” and “Matrimony II,” the latter written for their 10th wedding anniversary and a sequel to their earlier song “Matrimony.” “I see this as something I’ll continue to do,” she says. “There will be a ‘Matrimony III.’ It’s like the Before Sunrise trilogy—but with more talk about boat gear.”
That said, Swimmer doesn’t always go soft. “Need Your Love” is a full-on vent session about a toxic friendship. “That’s me at my angriest,” Alaina laughs. “Which isn’t that angry. It’s more sarcastic and a little bitter and self-righteous.” The song explodes into a chaotic time change halfway through, mirroring the mental spiral. “We wanted it to be as disjointed as possible,” she adds. “That’s what anger feels like.”
Alaina's vocals throughout Swimmer often blend into the mix like another instrument—distant, layered, indirect. Except on “Echoes,” where her voice is crystal clear and painfully close. “I wrote that one on the boat, actually,” she says. “I wanted it to be like a Paul Simon short story.” That’s the one where she ends up in the hospital.
Across all their interviews—spanning Ritual in Repeat, Yours Conditionally, and Swimmer—there’s a recurring theme in Tennis’ story: tension. Between control and chaos. Routine and freedom. Intimacy and identity. Marriage and feminism.
“Some people think getting married means you’re endorsing the institution,” she says. “We didn’t even say the traditional vows. I was like, what if I destroy your life and max out your credit cards—do you still have to love me because you said a sentence?” Hence the title Yours Conditionally.
Elsewhere, she takes aim at gender norms in “Ladies Don’t Play Guitar,” a song sparked by the simple frustration of not being able to play her own electric solo. “I was given a piano because I was a girl,” she says. “Patrick got a guitar because he was a boy. I don’t resent it—it’s just the accident of gender.” She jokes about her “inner shredder” that never got to see the light of day.
Their writing process, like their lives, follows a ritual and repeat pattern. They sail, they tour, they retreat to Denver, they write. But each cycle brings something new. “We treat every song like a selfish fulfillment,” Patrick once said. “What do I want to play? What do you want to sing? Then we meet in the middle.”
And yes, the middle sometimes involves screaming into the void at sea.
Listen to the interview above and then check out the videos below!
