Heartbreak Weather

Horan announced the album on 7 February 2020 alongside the release of the third single "No Judgement", and stated in a press release that with the album, he wanted to "tell the story that was in my head, hopefully lead people down the storytelling lane of an album track listing. [...] I wanted to write songs from different sides or from someone else looking in."[4] The album was recorded from October 2018 to January 2020.[5][6]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	63/100[24]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Guardian	[25]
The Independent	[26]
NME	[27]
Pitchfork	4.7/10[28]
The Telegraph	[29]
The Times	[30]

Heartbreak Weather received generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 63, based on eight reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[24]

AllMusic's Neil Yeung reviewed the album positively, stating that the production of the album was better than Horan's 2017 debut album, Flicker, adding that "despite the often dour and forlorn lyrical content, the songs are full-blooded and more energetic than the average breakup album".[1] Chris DeVille, writing for Stereogum, stated that the album is "much better" than Flicker, commenting that Heartbreak Weather's writing, production, and performance all represented "an upgrade". However, he felt that "Horan is capable of evolving" but added that "such flourishes suggest this boy-band alumnus may someday grow up to be the man after all — or at the very least he won't be desperate for a reunion tour". Jason Scott, writing for American Songwriter, named the record "a stylistic leveling-up" while complimenting Horan's take on heartbreak.[31] Michael Cragg of The Guardian highlighted that the album contains "hints of experimentation, such as the swaggering hybrid of Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian in "Nice To Meet Ya", but it's the excellent title track's flirtation with glossy, synth-tinged MOR that suggests where Horan might be headed next. Proof that it's often the quiet ones you need to keep an eye on".[25] Mike Wass, writing for Idolator, wrote that the record "just might be pop's first, feel-good breakup album" and that "there's no sophomore slump here" while calling it "a winning collection of love songs from multiple perspectives with very few skips."[32]

Some reviews were more mixed. Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press called the album an "overall bright collection" and felt that Horan made "14 perfectly fine tracks, if not volcanic ones" and that it "is in no way a disaster" but that "it's just not an improvement on his debut effort".[33] Ella Kemp of NME called the album "a mixed bag" and felt that there was "a great voice let down by some not great songs", writing that Horan's "lyrical landscape is somewhat thinner and the production even more impenetrable" than that of Flicker. She concluded by complimenting Horan's "incredible" and "convincing" voice, adding that the album "isn't an entirely lost cause, but one to build upon for a more inspiring future all the same".[27] Adam White, writing for The Independent, described Heartbreak Weather as "a tranquilliser of an album that only occasionally sparks to life" and "largely drab", explaining that Horan "struggles to define his musical identity on his shiny if haphazard second album" which is "entirely stuck on safe mode". Nevertheless, White specifically praised "New Angel" and "Arms of a Stranger", calling the latter "concert-ready and irresistibly shiny".[26] Writing for The Telegraph, Neil McCormick felt like the album lacks "any particular character" and that "everything sounds like something you might have heard somewhere before", stating that the record is "the closest thing to a One Direction album since the band split".[29] Ed Power of the Irish Examiner wrote that Horan "ticks the boxes but doesn't cause a storm".[34] Quinn Moreland, writing for Pitchfork, felt the Horan "spends too much of the record bouncing between sounds and songwriting concepts to feel distinct" but did compliment the album's final track, "Still," calling it "the realest, rawest moment on the record and a small bit of proof that Horan has the potential to make it on his own."[28]

Heartbreak Weather debuted atop the Irish Albums Chart and UK Albums Chart.[35][36] It also opened at number four on the US Billboard 200 with 59,000 album-equivalent units, including 42,000 pure album sales.[37]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Heartbreak Weather.[40]

• List of 2020 albums