review by Abigail June

Anna Shoemaker returns to her roots in Back to Pennsylvania, the ten song album that captures the complicated feelings that come with moving back into your childhood home.

Like the plot of a Gen-Z coming of age movie, Anna Shoemaker got her heart broken in New York City and decided to return to the Philadelphia suburb where she grew up, capturing the journey in the titular track Back to Pennsylvania. Through both the song and the album, Anna is able to discover that sometimes what you need to do to find yourself is dive into your past. But Back to Pennsylvania was only one of four singles that were released before the album; Girl Song, about regretting words left unsaid, Counting, where Anna counts other things because “counting on you’s too damn hard”, and Landmine, where Anna explores her side of a breakup as the one who ended things. But these songs were only a taste of what was to come.

Anna captures the heartbreak she went through in two songs. In Dying on your Hill, she dissects the anger that comes from taking part in an unbalanced relationship, and in Dead Giveaway she explores the desperation and yearning that sprouts from the same situation.

After heartbreak, anything reminds you of the one you loved. In Already Low, Anna recalls the found items that remind her of her ex, stating she can’t get high, because she’s already low, melancholy lyrics that counter the upbeat pop melody and laughter at the beginning of the track. In answer, Anna Shoemaker declares “I’m not taking you with me” in her song Pissin’, the foil to Already Low, with a lighthearted name that disguises a gut wrenching lyrical masterpiece.

Clover is the only true love song on the album, discussing her new relationship after moving from her hometown to LA. Anna’s voice comes through clear and sweet as honey, yet still shows a hint of vulnerability with lyrics like “nothing punches in the gut quite like falling in love.”

Finally, Anna closes the album with Love me Back, a song with a simple acoustic track that lets Anna’s voice shine through. In it, Anna speaks directly to her partner, telling him “you don’t have to carry the weight… you just have to love me back”, summarizing the lesson she learned throughout the whole experience; the person you know the best, the person you can always return to, and the person who will love you no matter what, is yourself.