Dan + Shay Reintroduce Themselves by Harnessing ‘Something That AI Can’t Replicate: The Human Spirit’

Dan + Shay know when they have a hit on their hands.

In their 13 years together, the duo of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney have become one of country music’s surest bets.

Songs like “Tequila” and “10,000 Hours” with Justin Bieber (which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100) have topped Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, they’ve won multiple Grammys and CMA Awards, and heard their lyrics sung back at them from stages across the world.

So when they left their writing room in Nashville with their new batch of songs for their follow-up to 2024’s Bigger Houses, they knew the feeling. The songs were hits. But there was another, more unfamiliar feeling behind it.

“We had cold feet,” Smyers admits.