Platinum-selling duo Dan + Shay’s brand new upcoming album OBSESSED, produced by Dan Smyers and Scott Hendricks, due June 3 on Warner Bros. / Warner Music Nashville, is available now for pre-order.
Enlisting Bryan Sutton and Danny Rader on acoustic guitar, Jimmie Lee Sloas on bass, Gordon Mote on keys, piano and string arrangements, Derek Wells on electric guitar, Russ Pahl on pedal steel, and Jim Horn on saxophone, it’s clear Dan and Shay clearly carefully studied the playbook and went into the studio with a vision for what they wanted to accomplish with this album musically.
“There are still nights where I spend hours online or digging through stacks of albums to study the album liner notes,” says Smyers, who is a self-admitted music junkie, which serves the co-producer well. “There were so many moments when we had these amazing musicians in the studio and I would find myself so immersed in the note or the moment that I would honestly find my fingers on autopilot recording the takes without me even remembering I had done so. We both have the upmost respect for these players and the fact that we could convince them to come play on this record made it an even more memorable experience.”
The duo gives credit where it’s due. In fact, they attribute the title of the album to their supporters who they teamed up with [their fans] to reveal the track listing. “We love our fans and feel like [they] are a huge reason we’ve had the success we’ve had,” Smyers told People Now. “Our fans are very involved in everything we do. We’re more like friends with them… We know their names, they know our names. To let them reveal the track titles has been really fun.” Dan + Shay also revealed the Obsessed album cover directly to fans earlier today.
In addition his writing credits on Obsessed, Mooney co-wrote Rascal Flatt’s recent number one I Like the Sound of That, which “wins with subtleties and sharp songwriting” (Taste of Country), along with Jesse Frasure and pop singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor.
While gearing up for the release of their album, the breakout country stars are also celebrating their nominations for the American Country Countdown Awards Group/Duo of the Year and Breakthrough Group/Duo of the Year as well as their Radio Disney Music Awards (RDMA) nomination for their hit single, Nothin’ Like You.
Dan + Shay are currently on the road and will join Darius Rucker on his Good for a Good Time Tour this summer, kicking off June 3 in Tampa, Fla.