The album consists of songs recorded before Lewis' 2018 hearing loss from Ménière's disease. Seven tracks had been completed before work on the album was indefinitely halted, and the band eventually decided to release the record as is.
Development and release
Huey Lewis and the News had not released an album in nearly ten years and had not recorded an album of new material since 2001's Plan B.[1] Plans for a new album had been circulating since 2012 when Lewis announced a new song they wrote called "While We're Young." "But now we need nine more," Lewis explained.[2] While touring in the mid-2010s, the addition of a song titled "Her Love Is Killing Me" had been included in the band's setlist.[3][4] By the end of 2017, Huey Lewis and the News had recorded a handful of songs for a new album, and it was anticipated that it would be released sometime in 2018.[5]
However, in January 2018, when Huey Lewis was diagnosed with Ménière's disease, the band cancelled all future shows and placed the album on hold.[6][7] A year later, it was announced the band had signed with BMG to release the new album.[8]
"Her Love Is Killin' Me" (originally titled "Your Love Is Killing Me") was released as the first single in September 2019.[9] In December 2019, "While We're Young" was made available to download and stream along with the announcement of the album's title and release date of February 14, 2020.[10]
Critics were quick to note the brevity of the album with the understanding of Lewis's condition meaning this would be the final album by the band. In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote even though they weren't "planning it as a goodbye, the album has a light, breezy tone, and that amiability is actually a fitting farewell for a group who always were a hard-working rock & soul combo." He concludes by stating "the record captures them at their best, delivering good-time music with a smile."[11] Pablo Gorondi of the Associated Press wrote at "barely 26 minutes, Weather sounds complete nevertheless, with the band's trademark sounds and usually festive moods present and accounted for", calling it "a short but sweet addition to the Huey Lewis and The News catalog."[13] From the UK, Will Hodgkinson of The Times believes Weather "makes for a positive, poignant swan song to Lewis's performing years."[12]
1 2 Weather (Media notes). Huey Lewis and the News. BMG Rights Management. 2020.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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