Annie DiRusso Makes Yearning Cool with “Back in Town”
Alison Kaiser
She/Her
Opinions Editor
1/28/25
I recently bumped into a friend at a cafe who asked me what I’ve been listening to, which is a question I love to answer but especially when it’s something I’ve been hyper fixating on. This time it was ‘Back in Town’ from indie rock artist Annie DiRusso. It’s a home for three previously released singles and one new track that has had me in a chokehold, and has been keeping me company since August, one release at a time. It’s a masterpiece on yearning, and a prelude to her debut album set to release in April.
Each track on ‘Back in Town’ seems to explore a different nuance of the same dynamic. The all encompassing infatuation with someone who’s undoubtedly not the one for you, but gives you just enough attention for unhealthy obsession to ensue. ‘Wet’ is the surrender to madness, a love song for the age of instant gratification “If you’re a pool, I’m a reckless kid running on the tile / confident that I won’t fall in, then slipping every time.” ‘Legs’ takes the power back, practicing detachment as a means of survival “I am loosening my grip/ I don’t give a shit if we fuck or we date/ I’m not making myself sick/ I’ll give what I get/ You can leave, you can stay” followed by “Well, I think you want me,” sung with a building confidence that ends in belted, synth-soaked declaration. It’s clear DiRusso has mastered the indie song, each track an addictive balance of clever lyricism and sonic manifestation of feeling.
The title track ‘Back in Town’ is an ode to the self- absorbed- adventurer type you hook up with whenever they’re around but would do quite literally anything to be with (including making yourself constantly available). There’s an illusion of control that’s slowly dissolved with each verse, a reclaiming of the embarrassment that comes from wanting depth from someone incapable of commitment. I haven’t related to a song this much in a while. One specific part that calls out to me is when she recounts lending this person books with handwritten notes in the margins that they never read, “Guess it’s all I can give / that’s not all of me,” that sit unopened on the floor of a bedroom she’ll never be in. There was a time not too long ago when I, obsessed with a man who did not feel the same way, hid a note and some lavender chamomile tea bags on the inside cover of a book. Unfortunately, I had to tell him about it myself after a good amount of time had passed. Sometimes it’s comforting to know you’ve never had an original experience.
The lyrics to “Wearing Pants Again” sound like a journal entry because they’re from one, set to intertwining acoustic guitars and visceral harmony from singer/songwriter Ruston Kelly. The monologue-esque phrasing allows for raw moments like “He’s a shark among men/ he kissed me in the kitchen.” This softness is a rare side of DiRusso that I hope is explored more on her upcoming album “Super Pedestrian.” The chorus is vulnerable and ends with a high note that feels equally like relief and exhaustion, an exhale sweeping effortlessly into a moment of folk-twinged instrumental.
Whether or not you can relate to being led on by a pretentious man, ‘Back in Town’ is a masterful, unique blend of music genres with something for everyone.