 In August 2010, a demo of the song, sung by singer Selin Alexa leaked online. Becky Bain of Idolator called the song a "mature dance track" and said that it "wouldn ’ t entirely be out of place on a Sophie Ellis-Bextor album." It seems that it was first made for Leona Lewis. In an interview with MTV News, Gomez said that "A Year Without Rain" was the first song she recorded for the album. She also explained why she named the album for the song, commenting, "I feel like that song has a lot of meaning, and it also kind of was the start of what I wanted to base all the other songs around." A Spanish-language version of the song titled "Un Año Sin Ver Lluvia" was released through the iTunes Store on October 26, 2010.
