"Back to You" is the second solo single of English singer and songwriter

Louis Tomlinson Louis William Tomlinson (; born Louis Troy Austin; 24 December 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Tomlinson began his career appearing in television dramas before he auditioned ...

, featuring American singer-songwriter

Bebe Rexha Bleta Rexha (; born August 30, 1989), known professionally as Bebe Rexha ( ), is an American pop singer and songwriter. After signing with Warner Records in 2013, Rexha received songwriting credits on Eminem's single " The Monster" (which later ...

and English DJ and producer

Digital Farm Animals Nick Gale, better known as Digital Farm Animals, is a British songwriter, music producer and DJ known for wearing an electronic pig helmet. He has featured on and co-written numerous tracks that have reached the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, ...

. It was written by Tomlinson, Digital Farm Animals, Pablo Bowman,

Richard Boardman Delphic were an alternative dance band from Manchester, England. They are signed to Polydor but released their first single "Counterpoint", produced by Ewan Pearson, in April 2009 through R&S Records. The band started out as a trio – Richard ...

, and Sarah Blanchard, while the production was handled by Digital Farm Animals and

Tommy Danvers Tommy Asher Danvers, better known by his stage name TommyD, is a British producer, songwriter, arranger, DJ, and multi-instrumentalist and co-founder of NFT marketplace, Token, , Traxx. He is best known for his work with artists such as Right ...

. The single was released on 21 July 2017; its accompanying music video premiered the same date.

Background and release

"Back to You" is the second solo single released by Louis Tomlinson after the announced hiatus of

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...

. The song was released via his own label, 78 Productions. It was later confirmed Tomlinson signed a solo recording deal with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. On 26 June, it was announced via two consecutive tweets from Tomlinson's Twitter that the song would be released at the end of July. The release date was later confirmed as 21 July.

Composition

"Back to You" comprises mid-tempo

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...

s and piano chords. Lars Brandle of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' noted an "urban-textured" production. Lyrically, the song discusses returning to an

on-again, off-again relationship An on-again, off-again relationship (also known as an on–off or off–on relationship) is a form of personal relationship between two persons who keep breaking up only to reconcile afterwards, thus repeating a cycle. Researcher Kale Monk, an a ...

. Tomlinson declared about its composition:

Music video

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song was filmed in Tomlinson's hometown of

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, England in May 2017, subsequently being released alongside the single on 21 July 2017. In the video Tomlinson and Rexha appear in various Doncaster locations, including Doncaster Rovers Football Club's

Keepmoat Stadium The Eco-Power Stadium (formerly known as Keepmoat Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Doncaster, England, with a capacity of 15,231. It cost approximately £20 million to construct, as part of the wider Lakeside Sports Complex that i ...

. As of October 2020, the music video has received more than 450 million views on YouTube.

Critical reception

Mike Wass of

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

wrote in his review, "As far as 1D solo offerings go, this is fairly solid." Mark Savage of

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

described the track as "a brooding pop concoction." In ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'', Ariana Bacle called it " ninfectious jam."

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{authority control 2017 songs 2017 singles Louis Tomlinson songs Bebe Rexha songs Digital Farm Animals songs Songs written by Louis Tomlinson Songs written by Digital Farm Animals Songs written by Richard Boardman Songs written by Pablo Bowman Songs written by Sarah Blanchard Song recordings produced by Digital Farm Animals Male–female vocal duets