Young

As Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney approach middle age, the “Tequila” hitmakers find themselves in an especially reflective place. On this follow-up to the 2023 album Bigger Houses, the duo take honest stock of a transitional period often marked by newfound responsibility, a growing accumulation of losses and a new, subtler shade of joy of contentment. Co-produced by Smyers and long-time collaborator Scott Hendricks, Young boasts the vocal pyrotechnics and sticky melodies that first earned Dan + Shay fans, but the stories at the heart of each song are rawer and more nuanced. Highlights include the Love Junkies (Lori McKenna, Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey) co-write “Dogs in Our Twenties”, a heart-wrenchingly relatable song about losing the animals who help us through early adulthood, and the title track, a delicate ballad with sumptuous harmonies. Cody Johnson joins Dan + Shay on “The Old Guys”, which uses classic country references to spin a yarn about the fear of losing a spouse. “The album we needed to make right now, for better or for worse, was an album that was an authentic snapshot of exactly who we are as men,” Smyers tells Apple Music. “And there’s heavy concepts on there. It’s not, ‘We’re on the boardwalk, and there’s a pretty girl walking down the street in Daisy Dukes,’ when you’re 19 or 20 years old. It’s songs about, ‘What if your spouse passes away before you?’ Just the passing of time, losing people you love. I feel like we’re kind of hitting that space in our life.” Below, Dan + Shay share insight into several key tracks. “Her, the Kids, and Jesus” Dan Smyers: “That was the first song we wrote for this album. And after that session, I just feel like a cloud was lifted, and I was like, ‘We got a song. We got one now.’ Then, in that moment, we just got a crazy burst of energy and creativity. And it was like, ‘This is the direction.’” “Dogs in Our Twenties” DS: “My first dog, well, it was [my wife] Abby’s dog when we met, Miller. He was a huge, 90-pound Lab