Gomez worked with Rock Mafia duo Tim James and Antonina Armato, as well as Fefe Dobson, Toby Gad, and Superspy.

According to Gomez, most of the songs on the album are dedicated to the fans, while she wanted content with more melodies and empowering lyric themes.

"[3] Gomez also stated she was unsure of taking on the responsibility of the album's main songwriter, unwanting the added pressure.

[3] She pointed out main goals for the record, which were making sure that she could relate to it, and that the fans could also, stating, "all of those songs are things that I went through, and that's why I put that all together.

"[5] According to Gomez, most songs on the album were inspired by the band's dedicated fans, as she stated, "I wish I could give to them, because they mean so much to me.

[8] The album features predominant dance-pop,[9] and synthpop[10] characteristics, while incorporating Eurodance,[11] dancehall and disco influences.

"[12] Sendra also said where the previous album had a "retro feel" and "plenty of guitars", this work was "totally of the moment", accompanied by Auto-Tune and guest raps.

[11] The title track, "A Year Without Rain" is a dance ballad that also shows disco music elements, described as "emo".

[11] Eric Bellinger makes an appearance in rap interludes in "Intuition", while Katy Perry sing backing vocals on "Rock God".

[18] In the United Kingdom, where 'Naturally' performed inside the Top 10, 'Round & Round' failed to match its success, only reaching a peak of 47.

The song's accompanying music video, shot in Budapest, Hungary, features Gomez and the band in a secret spy storyline.

[19] The second single, "A Year Without Rain", written by Lindy Robbins and produced by Toby Gad, was released on September 7, 2010.

Gomez and her band also made an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, on September 22, where they performed "A Year Without Rain".

[27] Kara Warner of MTV News commented, "Although it wasn't a stadium-rocking performance à la Lady Gaga or Katy Perry, Gomez powered through her pop song with a sense of earnestness and commitment.

After the release of their second studio album, the band tour alongside Katy Perry, Bruno Mars and Enrique Iglesias for the KIIS-FM Jingle Ball concert series.

Allstar Weekend opened up for Gomez on select dates, while Christina Grimmie, who also had done background vocals on the album, was present for most of the US shows on the tour.

A Year Without Rain generally received positive reviews by the music critics, Mikael Wood of Billboard stated while the lyrics contain "standard issue tween-pop topics", the effort was an improvement over 2009's Kiss & Tell, commenting that the production outweighed the lyrical content.

This time around they are immersed in a more polished dance-pop style that moves easily from the glossy midtempo title cut to perky uptempo club tunes.

[34] The Wairarapa Times-Age said in their review of the album, "A Year Without Rain, Selena Gomez & The Scene's second album, is full of dance floor-friendly synth pop, probably more suited to a slightly older set than her teen-targeted TV show, and with less of a rock edge than fellow Disney Stars Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato."

At the end of the review, they listed "Live Like There's No Tomorrow", and the title track "A Year Without Rain" as the two highlights from the album.

[35] MusicOMH gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, stating "It would be the easiest thing in the world to dismiss A Year Without Rain as a cynical implementation of fan base exploitation; Gomez is, with regards to a certain demographic, a licence to print money.

In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 14, two spots lower than Kiss & Tell did the previous year.

In Ireland, A Year Without Rain performed very poorly compared to Kiss & Tell, debuting at number 40 on the official albums chart.

The previous year, Kiss & Tell had debuted and peaked at number 14 on the chart, making a 26 spot difference between the two albums.