"Back to Love" is a song by American singer Chris Brown. It was released by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

on April 11, 2019, serving as the second single from Chris Brown's ninth studio album ''

Indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

''. The song received positive reviews from music critics who celebrated its lyrical content and its production, praising the intention from Brown to bring himself close to his early R&B roots, comparing it to some works from his Grammy Award winning album '' F.A.M.E.'', and to

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's music from the 1990s as well. While receiving positive reception from critics, the single became the lowest charting single from ''Indigo''.

Background

Chris Brown teased the song with a post on his Instagram account, while he was performing a choreography for it.

Composition and lyrics

The song was written by Chris Brown and Mark Pitts, and was produced by Cam Wallace. "Back to Love" runs for three minutes and forty two seconds. The instrumentation is dominated by percussive elements and a slapping snare. The song is also bass-heavy while featuring extended

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

chords, riffs, and a woodwind

synth A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

that makes an appearance halfway through the track. The song is about a man that wants to leave his past behind him, apologizing to his girlfriend, for mistreating her, needing to get back to love in the correct way, thanking her for helping him to open his eyes, promising to be a better man.

Critical reception

Andy Kellman of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

defined the song as a "career highlight". Alex Zidel of ''HotNewHipHop'' said that the song is "lyrically deep and conscious, while musically has a worldwide and timeless sound", noticing that with "Back to Love", and his previous single "

Undecided "Undecided" is a popular song written by Sid Robin and Charlie Shavers and published in 1938. Recordings *The first recording was made by John Kirby and The Onyx Club Boys on October 28, 1938, and released by Decca Records as catalog number 22 ...

", Brown is successfully trying to bring himself close to his early R&B roots. Ken Hamm of ''SoulBounce'' described the song as "meaningful", saying that the song is a revival of

's music from the 1990s.

Music video

The music video was directed by Brown, and released the same day that the song was released. The video was shot in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and starts with Brown escaping some paparazzi, being driven to the Seine's edge where he shows off different dance moves in front of what appears to be an illuminated well. Groups of dancing children from across the globe make cameos throughout the music video as Chris Brown continues to display his dancing ability in the midst of rows of columns which later morph into striped moving pillars. The ''Back to Love'' video was compared by many to

's music videos, suggesting the "King of Pop" as an inspiration for it.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. * Chris Brown - vocals, lyrics, composer *Cameron Wallace - producer, composer *Mark Pitts - lyrics, composer *Nathan Perez - composer * Atia Boggs - composer *Keith Thomas - composer *Ben Chang - assistant engineer *Randy Merril - mastering engineer *Patrizio Pigliapoco - mixing engineer, recording engineer

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2019 singles Chris Brown songs Songs written by Chris Brown 2019 songs Songs written by Soundz Songs written by Eric Bellinger Songs written by OG Parker Songs written by Scott Storch Songs written by Happy Perez