Following the release of her cheek new single “Tennis Club,” Canadian electronica artist Talltale drops the official music video. Premiering today on Indie88, the music video follows the lyric’s lighthearted approach of comparing the game of love to a game of tennis.
“It started with a loose lyric idea of ‘I learned more about love in tennis club than I ever did from you’ (since a score of zero in tennis is called “love”),” Talltale explains. “Then I built out the song to keep – what I hope to be – an emotionally honest core, while encasing it with more tennis puns and a shimmering 80s synth-pop vibe instrumentally.“
Racking up over 330K streams as an independent artist, Talltale has cemented her sound and her standing as one of Canada’s most promising pop writers. She has garnered support across numerous editorial playlists with her clever, sincere lyricism, rhythmic melodies, and distinct vocal sound, which has also earned her previous work Best Electronic Song of 2018 in the Canadian Songwriting Competition, Artist to Watch at the EMAs, and a nomination as Electronic/DanceArtist of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards.
What’s your story as an artist?
I’ve been writing songs in notebooks since I was about 6/7 and though I could hear what the production and everything would sound like, I couldn’t play any instruments at the time so I would just sing them. When I was 12 I learned acoustic guitar to impress a boy, and I joined school band and got assigned to clarinet – I hated it, so when they had percussion audition a few months later, I took that as a chance to escape the clarinet haha. Fast forward a few years of playing in talent shows (poorly) and writing songs, and I ended up getting accepted to music school as a drummer doing a composition major! I learned production there, worked on my musicianship a ton, and found a vocal coach that finally clicked with me (Carol-lynne Quinn). I released my first album the year I graduated, and since then, I’ve done a bunch of writing in Japan and Korea for artists there, won some radio and songwriting contests, and just worked really hard on making the best music I can!
What inspired this single?
Sort of out of nowhere one night, I thought of the line “I learned more about love in tennis club than I ever did from you” (since a score of zero in tennis is called love), and I thought it was such a fun idea for a heartbreak song.
What are some sources of inspiration for your storytelling?
I think the biggest one has to be my friends. My friends have always been the most important relationships in my life and they are the people I talk to everything about. I process things best verbally, so I think that a lot of topics for writing come from those conversations with them!
Any funny anecdotes from the time you were recording or writing the album?
It was my first time writing with Mike Bilenki, and he started making what is now the Tennis Club track as we wrote over Zoom. As he was adding layers to it, I had a really good feeling that this might be the person to write the song with, so I told him about my idea of writing a punny song about a break-up called Tennis Club. I think most people would’ve found it cheesy or weird, but Mike went “wait right here” and then returned into the shot holding his copy of Vic Braden’s “Tennis for the Future.” As it turns out, Mike is very into tennis and was so stoked on the idea of writing a song about it!
Tell us about the music video and the idea behind it ?
The music video shows me joining a tennis club, getting absolutely destroyed by the other guys in there, doing a training montage, and then coming back to avenge myself haha. The idea really goes hand in hand with the song, the song is just so fun that it only made sense to do a fun video! In my dream world, I wanted the music video to be 80s workout video meets sports anime.
What’s a record that shaped your creativity?
Thinking back, a record that I really fell in love with a few years ago was Clean Bandit’s “New Eyes.” I’d always wanted to hear electronic music mixed with orchestral instrumentals, but didn’t think anyone else would really be that into it, so hearing that album and how cool it was emboldened me to think that there’s an audience out there for whatever you want to do!
Who is an artist or band you look up to today?
Porter Robinson has been my obsession for the last year haha. His album Nurture got to me at a time when I really needed to hear a record like that. After years of writing so much music, it’s really easy to treat it formulaically. His record was the first time in quite a while where I really felt moved by music. It reminded me what we’re trying to do here as musicians, and reminded me to try and make my own favourite record instead of worrying about what everyone else was doing.
Any future projects?
Writing an album right now that I’m hoping comes out in spring 2022!
Top 3 dream collaborations?
LIGHTS, Porter Robinson, Imogen Heap.
What does music mean to you?
So many things! It’s a catharsis, it’s a soundtrack, it can change my mood or amplify it, it’s my job and my area of formal study, it’s been a way to meet people around the world I never would’ve met otherwise. It’s kinda of a cheesy answer, but it can mean whatever you want it to! I think that’s why everyone loves it in their own way.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?
Lush, bright, thoughtful, and quirky!
