Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay stopped by The Bobby Bones Show to talk about their new album, what inspired the songs on it, how they almost broke up as a duo and why they haven’t talked to Justin Bieber in months.
Dan + Shay’s highly anticipated fifth album, Bigger Houses, is out today (September 15). Creating their new record has been a personal journey for the two. They revealed when they finished touring in 2021 that they almost broke up. In a video they posted to YouTube called “The Drive,” Smyers said that he found himself hating music and ready to quit. The two went four months without speaking and then a 3 a.m. phone call changed everything. They met and talked about what they wanted from their career and where they saw it going. They realized they loved the duo and that they owed it to their fans to continue and make the best music they could. They then started working on Bigger Houses.
“Save Me The Trouble” was the first single from the new record and was their biggest add date on country radio in their career yet. Being a duo for 10 years, they are grateful to see country radio still supporting them. While in studio, they played clips of every track on the album, but really highlighted songs like “For The Both Of Us,” which is a perfect father-daughter wedding dance song. Wedding songs are their forte. Previous songs like “Speechless” and “From The Ground Up” have become wedding staples, and they are hoping “For The Both Of Us,” will join it. They write about what they know and what they are going through in their personal lives with their wives and kids, and everyone can relate to love songs.
They chose to name the album Bigger Houses because that song is super special to them and close to their hearts. They wrote it with their friend Andy Albert, who Smyers moved to Nashville with, and they lived together. Dan + Shay thought they were done with their new record, until they went to Albert’s new house, and he was giving them a tour of it. He kept apologizing for everything that wasn’t done in the house yet and Smyer’s wife told him he should stop apologizing and be proud he bought a bigger house because it’s a big accomplishment. That’s when the idea for the song sparked. It felt like the right title for the album because it’s where they are in their life right now, they have gone through a lot of ups and downs the last couple of years, and they feel like the title sums the album up. The cover art for their new record is them sitting on a mini house. They felt like the image could stand the test of time and they actually had a little livable house built for them to sit on and they plan to use it for a few pop-up events to promote the album.
One of Dan + Shay’s biggest hits is the song they did with Justin Bieber, "10,000 Hours.” They have not spoken to Bieber in months, and think he might’ve changed his number, but will always be grateful for how successful that song became. Next Spring, they will join The Voice as the first coaching duo and have already started filming for it, calling it an amazing experience that they are thrilled to be a part of.
Dan + Shay just announced their Heartbreak On The Map Tour with special guests Hailey Whitters and Ben Rector. Pre-sale begins Tuesday September 19th at 10 AM local time and official on-sale begins Friday September 22nd. Pre-register at danandshay.com/tour now to get your early ticket access code!