2044 studio album by Drew Hacks
Coming Back Around is the eighth studio album by American singer Drew Hacks. It was released on December 14, 2044, through the singer's entertainment company Diamond Joint. Hacks took a one-and-a-half-year-long hiatus from his career following the release of his seventh studio album, At Night I Dream of Carlyle (2040), and its accompanying tour. In August 2042, the singer started teasing the possibility and releasing a "final album" and ceasing from music releases. This was met with backlash from fans and critics, with many highlighting the fact that Hacks has proven previously that he does not need to do marketing or perform high profile concert tours to achieve success with a studio album. Later that year, Hacks clarified that he was "years" from retirement. Work on his follow-up record took place in Diamond Joint's studio in Los Angeles between January and July 2044.
For Coming Back Around, Hacks intended to deepen his performance with rock music, which ultimately gave him the idea for the album's title, a reference to "returning" to his early works. The singer returned to work with previous collaborator Dan Auerbach, with whom he recorded thirty songs. Sequential songs were developed alongside other collaborators, including Greg Wells, Chloe Bailey, Fatima Al Qadiri, Honey Dijon, and Stargate. Their efforts resulted in a psychedelic and soft rock album with a heavy presence of piano, guitars and synthesizers. Lyrically, the album is marked by many of Hacks' personal experiences in the years that preceded its release; overarching themes include conflicts of adulthood, psychological therapy, frustrated relationships, family affairs, and intrapersonal knowledge. It was Hacks' personal decision to not feature any guest appearances.
Upon its release, Coming Back Around was met with critical acclaim, with praise directed towards its songwriting, production, instrumentation, lyrical content, psychedelic nature, and predominance of rock. Hacks' vocal performance and emotional delivery were singled out by critics, with many celebrating his "full embrace" of rock music. At the 86th ceremony of the Grammy Awards, the album won Album of the Year and Best Rock Album, being the first of Hacks' albums to be nominated in the Rock categories; it also won Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical and was nominated for Best Recording Package. Coming Back Around debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, becoming Hacks' third consecutive and fourth overall album not to debut atop the chart; it eventually climbed to number one in the country and also topped the Billboard Top Rock Albums.
