It’s been two years since Niall Horan released the masterpiece that is Heartbreak Weather. Now, maybe I’m a bit biased because I’ve been a Niall fan since 2010, but it’s an amazing album that’s extremely underrated. If you’re a One Direction fan like me, you probably listened to the album the day that it was released. If you’re not a fan, you probably never thought to give it a listen, but trust me, you should. The album has 14 songs that have a mix of pop, acoustic and a hint of some R&B and rock. Odds are there’ll be a song on the album that you’ll like and a song that you can probably relate to, if not now, at some other point in your life you probably could.
Something that contributed to this album being severely underrated is the timing of its release. Niall Horan released his second studio album, Heartbreak Weather, on March 13, 2020, which was evidently extremely bad timing because that also happened to be doomsday for people around the world – when everything began to get shut down because of COVID-19. This meant that most people were concerned with things other than listening to new music. Lockdown also meant that Niall was unable to do promo for his new album or go on tour (forever sad about that). Due to all the major events that were happening, Heartbreak Weather never got the love and the attention that it truly deserves.
Not only is the album amazing, but the way that Niall announced this album is genius. He created a persona named Niall Storm, who’s a meteorologist. He announced the title of each song on the album by giving a weather advisory that reflects the vibes that each song gives off. This was especially clever because of the name of the album, Heartbreak Weather. These little videos leading up to the release date kept fans hooked and excited to see what was yet to come. Most of the songs on the album also have references to various types of weather, tying in perfectly with the title of the album.
Heartbreak Weather is also a concept album which means that it follows a story from the first track to the last. The album starts with the title track “Heartbreak Weather,” which depicts the beginning stages of a relationship. We’re able to listen to the story of a relationship from beginning to end where the album finishes off with “Still.”
Every song on the album is extremely well-written and composed. There’s the perfect blend of soft and slow piano ballads and upbeat songs that make you either want to dance or blast them while driving with your windows rolled down (or both). Niall is also an amazing lyricist which is quite clear in every song off this album. The beautifully-written lyrics are what allows the listener to be taken on this journey through the course of a relationship and everything that comes with it. Not to mention the amazing vocals on every single track. All 14 songs on this album are genuinely good; there’s not a single skip on it, which can’t be said for most albums!
Overall, Heartbreak Weather is quite literally a masterpiece in my opinion and if you haven’t listened to it yet, you definitely should. Even if you’ve listened to it, listen to it again! While you’re giving Heartbreak Weather a listen, make sure that you also listen to his debut album, Flicker, because that album is also a masterpiece. However, that’s something that’ll need its own article to discuss.