LOS ANGELES (AP) — Earlier than Grammy Award-winning duo Dan + Shay wrote their fifth studio album, “Greater Homes,” they practically broke up.
It was a night in March 2022, and Dan + Shay met up after having not spoken in months. “I simply knew in my coronary heart, I used to be like, ‘This may very well be the tip of Dan + Shay,” says Shay Mooney concerning the drive to Dan Smyers’ home.
The 12 months prior was a landmark one. They headlined an area tour for the primary time, they collected their Grammy for finest nation duo/group efficiency for the third 12 months in a row, and so they continued to launch platinum hits, like “I Ought to In all probability Go to Mattress,” “Glad You Exist,” and the multi-platinum crossover hit “10,000 Hours,” that includes Justin Bieber. And but, they had been depressing.
“We didn’t have a battle,” Mooney recollects. “It was simply, over time, not speaking, not getting our emotions out, not speaking to one another… Dan mentioned he fell out of affection with music. I used to be sort of there as properly.”
There have been different elements that led to what Mooney calls a “breaking level.” He had his second youngster two weeks earlier than COVID-19 hit, he suffered his first “actually dangerous” panic assault, and when the most important tour of their life was canceled, he wasn’t positive what may come subsequent.
“I used to be in a really darkish place,” he says. “I used to be ingesting so much on the time.”
“We had been happening a extremely darkish path,” Smyers provides. “This album, truthfully, it saved our lives.”
Each are fast to match their partnership to a wedding – as a soloist, you make your individual selections. In a trio, there’s a tie breaker. In a band, there’s a chaotic refrain of opinion. However in a duo, you’ve set to work on the connection with a peculiar sort of intimacy — every little thing is 50/50. As soon as they started prioritizing their well being, their households and one another, their love for making music got here again.
Smyers says the songs on “Greater Homes” simply “fell into our laps,” the results of sitting down to write down music that felt true to them. “I’m grateful they did.”
Sonically, it got here from the identical sensibility the band had of their earliest days. “Again to fundamentals,” he says. “We wrote all these songs simply hanging out, the 2 of us, or with a good friend with an acoustic guitar and piano. That was sort of how we made our first album.”
On the coronary heart of “Greater Homes” is the title observe, written within the eleventh hour, identical to their large hit “Speechless.” In it, Dan + Shay’s newfound optimism is expressed explicitly, and in a format they’ve grow to be fashionable masters of — the ballad.
“The older I get/I simply care much less and fewer/’Bout maintaining with individuals named Jones,” they sing.
“The factor about happiness I’ve discovered is,” Smyers quotes the music, “It don’t dwell in greater homes.”
Past the knowledge of “Greater Homes,” too, are newfound sonic surprises. On “We Ought to Get Married,” Dan + Shay detour from their attribute balladeering for an up-tempo country-pop music, heavy with fiddle and metal guitar.
“We’ve been the marriage guys,” Mooney explains. “Our songs have been utilized in quite a lot of weddings. And we simply thought, you already know, we’d like a kind of songs that’s used after we play the primary dance music, and we’re attempting to get individuals on the dance ground.”
It’s a noble ambition for 2 guys who met at a celebration in 2012 and beginning writing songs collectively the subsequent day, with no approach of figuring out what the subsequent decade would seem like.
Smyers says the fellows they’re now are nearer to these guys from the start of their profession. “We simply have that sense of marvel again in our eyes,” he says. “We do have an incredible alternative that after we put out an album or we go to document, we now have an amazing fan base who’s been loyal to us, who caught with us for for a very long time, and so they’re going to pay attention.”
“We’re going to have their ear. So, we really feel like we owe it to them to make the absolute best model of ourselves that we will with out placing an excessive amount of strain on ourselves.”
Subsequent spring, Dan + Shay will grow to be the primary musical duo to visitor choose on “The Voice.” In February, the duo will embark on their second area tour. This time, they really feel ready for it.