Bigger Houses

"And we got to this place where we said, 'Let’s either ride out into the sunset as friends and call it a day, or let’s really figure out our stuff and figure out a healthy way to move forward.'"

(Shay Mooney / variety.com, 27. September 2023)

When Dan+Shay released their latest studio album in September of 2023, nobody knew that it was almost never going to happen. After almost 10 years of an intense career, 8 number-one hits and a multitude of awards (including a Grammy), the duo seemed to be burned out and at the end of their journey together.

"It's like a marriage. If you're not going out of your way to work on it, things can fall apart," Dan Smyers described the situation in an interview with npr.org. "You can just naturally grow apart. And we sensed that that was kind of what was happening. And it was like, let's spend a few days together. Let's work on music. Let's write songs."

That resulted not only in finding each other again, but they also took it as an opportunity to tell everyone else who might be going through a relationship crisis about it. "The last 10 years have been crazy, and through that, I feel like we got to this place that we talked about in this video called 'The Drive'," explained Shay Mooney. "We talked about our struggles and working through that and thankfully coming out on the other side as better people because of it. Really, the album happened out of that reconciliation process."

"Bigger Houses" is the fifth studio album by Dan+Shay. It not only represents a new beginning for the duo, but it is also a new beginning in terms of sound. In any case, Dan Smyers says: "I think it is a bit of a return to our roots, you know, our country influences. We did this record with a live band. We just wanted the words and the feelings and the vocals to cut through and not be overshadowed by, you know, the glitz and glam of heavier production like we'd done in the past."

Glitzy productions, which made many fans -not without reason- classify the music of Dan+Shay simply as pop music. At least by the time -as if to confirm- the two had a worldwide pop hit with Justin Bieber ('10,000 Hours').

The first single ('Save Me The Trouble') from the current album was once again a classic Dan+Shay country-pop ballad, but this time it sounds more compatible with the country genre. In January of 2024, it reached number 2 on the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart und number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop charts.

Almost exactly one year later (on January 17, 2025), the album's title song is the second single and as the undisputed highlight of the project, stands at number 4 on the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart. Plus 'Bigger Houses' is not only unmistakably country, but also highly catchy and does even come without drums entirely.

On top of it all, it reminds us all that happiness in life does not depend on material things. Rather, it is that other stuff, which should make us contemplate a little and potentially have it become part of a good resolution for the new year.

There's always gonna be a higher high,
you could chase for the rest of your life.
Greener grass in the yard next door
or a shined-up Chevy little newer than yours.

[But] you're never gonna fill an empty cup,
if what you got's still not enough.
The thing about happiness I've found, is
it don't live in bigger houses.
(Bigger Houses / Dan Smyers, Jordan Reynolds, Jordan Minton, Andy Albert)