The Return is the debut studio album by British musician and producer Kamaal Williams. It was released on 25 May 2018, under his Black Focus Record label. After the breakup of the band Yussef Kamaal, Williams sought to recreate the sounds of their 2016 album Black Focus with bassist Pete Martin, drummer Josh McKenzie and producer Richard Samuels. The album is built on improvisation and its ideas are based on their recorded jam sessions. Two music videos were released for the album, "Catch the Loop" and "Salaam", both directed by Greg Barnes. Williams also announced a tour across Europe in 2018 and in North America in 2019. The Return received generally favorable reviews from music critics, some praising the re-creation of jazz-funk sounds of the 1970s, while others questioned the length of certain songs. In the United Kingdom, it marked his first entry in the albums chart at number 63, while in the Jazz & Blues chart it ranked number 1. The album also reached number 3 in the Top Jazz Albums chart in America. Background and development Keyboardist Kamaal Williams formed Yussef Kamaal with drummer Yussef Dayes and released Black Focus in 2016. Shortly afterwards, the band broke up in May 2017 for "private and unforeseen reasons". With The Return, Williams continues the style that Black Focus left off, where "it focuses on pure groove, augmented with loop-like repeated motifs but achieves them with live drums, funk-driven bass, and smooth, twinkling Fender Rhodes lines". Michael J West of Bandcamp Daily said that the album continued Williams' "jazz fusion" reputation, which Williams rejected. He instead considered the album to be "the essence of the London Underground", clarifying that the musicians involved were from London. The album relies on improvisation based on the "rhythmic exchange" between Williams, bassist Pete Martin and drummer Josh "MckNasty" McKenzie. According to West, Williams finds his ideas though "a rough, basic idea: a motif, a beat, a timbre, or a combination of the above". The band recorded jams for up to 20 minutes and selected highlights to use for tracks, which Williams considers "the most natural way to do it". Williams recorded The Return with the band in his mother's living room, "I had no money, no studio, just one mic." He and engineer Richard Samuels mixed the album for six months, the drums in particular "took weeks" to mix. The album was mastered by Guy