Songfacts®:

• "Coming Back" is a conversation between two separated lovers following a huge blowup. James Blake is full of regret for the things he said and wishes to return, "tail between my legs." His partner, SZA, is cautious in her response, questioning whether he truly loves her.
• The song acutely describes Blake and SZA's pain as their relationship reaches a crossroads. The art comes "when every phrase really means something and it's not just being strung together to form a melody or to make a song work overall," Blake told The Independent. "Every lyric counts."
• James Blake and SZA wrote the song with:
  
  Blake's girlfriend, the actress and TV presenter Jameela Jamil.
  
  American songwriter Starrah (Rihanna's "Needed Me," Maroon 5's "Girls Like You"). She also co-penned Blake's 2021 single "Are You Even Real?"
  
  Dominic Maker of the electronic music duo Mount Kimbie. Maker also contributed additional vocals.
• The collaboration came about when, during Blake's songwriting session with Starrah, she casually mentioned SZA was coming by the studio. Blake played the American R&B singer some of his music, over which she sang, and they landed on "Coming Over."
• Though they sounded good together, it took Blake a while to figure out how to best support SZA's vocal. "I tried doing the ambient thing," he told Apple Music. "I tried making it really beautiful, and it didn't work." Blake eventually realized the production needed to be more "bangery."
  
  "I have it in my locker," he said, "and occasionally that power needs to be drawn upon."
• Blake and Maker co-produced the song with additional arranging by Jamil and Kushi. Maker contributed to seven tracks on Friends That Break Your Heart.
• The song opens with a grand piano interpolating Chicago-based rock group Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah's 1971 track "Lake Shore Drive."