His first under the then newly restructured RCA label after his transition from So So Def Recordings and the Zomba Label Group, the album features writing and production from Babyface, Dre & Vidal, Kelvin Wooten, Mike City, Salaam Remi, James Poyser, Jairus Mozee, The Avila Brothers, as well as Hamilton himself.

The album earned largely positive reviews and debuted at number twelve on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling over 63,000 copies in the first week.

[3] In search of a "brighter, more mainstream sound without compromising his gritty, soulful voice,"[3] he consulted a variety of new collaborators to work with him on the album, including Babyface and Antonio Dixon, who contributed three songs to the project, as well as producers Salaam Remi, Mike City, longtime colleague Kelvin Wooten and newcomer Jairus Mozee.

Club critic Evan Rytlewski found that the album "isn't quite the radical makeover of some of Hamilton’s more adventurous peers, it's nonetheless a sterling continuation of the singer's ever-widening palette.

"[9] Mikael Wood from Entertainment Weekly noted that Back to Love was not "as solid as any of his previous six albums, but its high points are the three tunes ­co-produced by Babyface.

"[14] Rob Tannenbaum, writing for Rolling Stone, remarked: "In spartan tracks that evoke but never imitate Al Green and Teddy Pendergrass, Hamilton whispers offers of courtly behavior he says would make Oprah jealous.