Back to Forever

Critical reception

Back to Forever received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 69, based on 14 reviews.

AllMusic gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, writing: "Lissie's strength is how she uses the past as foundation, not aspiration, and that's why Back to Forever is a lithe, unpredictable, and seductive collection of modern pop: it places equal emphasis on song and sound."

In a very positive review, Simmy Richman of The Independent writes: "Lissie is still a head-and-shoulders-above-the-rest singer and songwriter but where Catching a Tiger mined the 1970s Fleetwood Mac seam, Back to Forever moves things into the 1980s – all fist-pumping verses and “Kids-in-America”-like big choruses," adding: "And though the hipsters will never take Lissie to their hearts, their loss is the gain of those who care more for substance than style."

In a very positive review, Paste Magazine writer Elias Leight writes: "With puffs of backing vocals and a shiny bursting guitar solo, all escaping emotions are artfully contained. Lissie sounds most comfortable in this mode, chugging meticulously forward," giving Back to Forever 8.4 out of 10 points.

PopMatters writer Steven Horowitz writes: "Lissie makes one want to pump fists in the air and sing along because she always seems to be giving it her all. <...> Not every song on her new album works—just because something is art does not make it good art—but most of them do because she really outs herself out there. Her dignity comes not from holding back but from letting go," giving Back to Forever 8 out of 10 points.