Pollen (album)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	82/100[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Exclaim!	8/10[8]
Gigwise	[9]
Pitchfork	6.7/10[10]
Slant Magazine	[11]

Pollen received a score of 82 out of 100 based on four critics' reviews on review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim".[6] Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Tim Sendra opined that Pollen's main point of difference in Tennis' catalogue is its "occasional distorted guitar, a little more bump in the rhythm section, and overall punchier production" and that while the "small deviations might feel drastic at first, [...] the sum of the parts is still as pleasant as ever once the album ends".[7]

Everett Amber Ellis of Exclaim! found the album, along with its predecessor Swimmer, to be "indebted to the sparkle of the '80s—albeit the more restrained and sophisticated side of a decade infamous for its more gaudy tastes", and "front-heavy as most Tennis albums are", writing that its "highlights lie largely in its singles".[8] Evie Gower of Gigwise described the album as "filled to the brim with dream pop synthesisers and a melding of strings, a mixture of classical and contemporary components that make Alaina Moore's voice as ethereal as ever", as well as a "funky backdrop of various instruments and vocal tones" with lyrics that feel like "a love letter to the highs and lows of life".[9]

Eric Mason of Slant Magazine wrote that Moore and Riley "take one step closer to the present by interspersing their 20th-century callbacks with nods to turn-of-the-millennium pop-rock" on Pollen, finding the "common thread" that ties the album's songs together is "escapism, whether it be the isolation of the open sea or the insular behind-the-scenes goings on of a hotel".[11] Adlan Jackson of Pitchfork felt that the duo's "persistent melodies quiver with the same earnestness as always, and their self-production continues to hit its stride", elaborating that "the overall airiness on Pollen gives the sense that Tennis are continuing to have a blast making music that glides from one hook to the next."[10]

• Alaina Moore – vocals, synthesizers, piano, guitar and production
• Patrick Riley – guitars, bass guitars, synthesizers, auxiliary percussion, drum programming and production
• Steve Voss – drums and engineering assistance
• Griffith James – ambient noise on "Gibraltar"
• Alan Sumler – Latin translation on "Never Been Wrong"
• Claudius Mittendorfer – mixing
• Joe LaPorta – mastering
• Luca Venter – artwork
• Allison Freeman – artwork