Dan + Shay have been using their time off the road wisely. The duo, made up of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, planned on being on their The (Arena) Tour this year, which of course was postponed because of COVID-19. Instead, the two have been hard at work on a new album, which will include their massive hit, “10,000 Hours” with Justin Bieber, as well as their new track, “I Should Probably Go to Bed.”
“We hadn’t put out any new music since ‘10,000 Hours,’ which was October 4 of last year,” Shay told The Country Daily. “And, we have the luxury of time right now. We have the responsibility to write the best music we possibly can and try to one-up the last thing we did. And so, right now, we have time to do that . . . and we’ve got a lot of stuff in the tank that we’re super proud of that we’ve recorded and written that we’re super stoked on.”
“I Should Probably Go to Bed,” which is already in the Top 20, almost didn’t even happen. The pair was working on another song, and didn’t initially plan on finishing their soaring new song.
“We wrote part of this song in Los Angeles during Grammy week but finished it at my house, on my piano, kind of by accident,” Dan said of the single. “Shay had come over to record vocals on another song that we had written.
“We took a break, went downstairs, started singing this song, and realized this song needs a big ending. So we really went for it,” he continued. “Shay delivered one of my favorite vocal performances of all time. We’re so proud that this is our new single.”
“10,000 Hours” was a 21-week No. 1 hit. The song received three CMA Awards nominations, for Single of the Year, Musical Event of the Year and Video of the Year. Dan + Shay were also nominated for Duo of the Year.
Before the CMA Awards, Dan + Shay will perform at the ACM Awards on September 16, where they are also nominated for four trophies, including for Duo of the Year, as well as Song of the Year, Video of the Year and Music Event of the Year, all for “10,000 Hours.”
The 2020 ACM Awards will air live from Nashville on Wednesday, September 16, at 8:00 PM ET on CBS.
