Dan + Shay join Rob + Holly this week on the Friday Night Takeover, offering up a candid conversation about their new album, Young, and how it was almost something completely different.
LISTEN NOW: Friday Night Takeover with Dan + Shay
The duo reveals that they completely scrapped an earlier version of their upcoming album because it lacked genuine heart, personal meaning, and emotional resonance. Instead they decided to anchor their new music in raw, authentic human experiences.
“We kind of made an album that wasn't this,” shares Dan. “We were making this album that just didn't feel personal or genuine or authentic and it was like, we had cold feet about it.”
“It was just kind of like whatever songs. they had no meaning to them, no heart, and I feel like at this point in our career and in our lives, you've grown up with us, man. We've been doing this together for a long time, over a decade together now, and being in our mid to late 30s, it's like, I don't know, we aren't singing about the same things that we were when we were early 20s when we first moved to Nashville,” he adds. “We're making these songs that we weren't just really connecting to and our team, everybody was eager to put something out.”
But Dan + Shay knew something wasn’t right, and asked the team for patience as they went back to the drawing board. “Let's just try for a couple of days to write something that is an exact snapshot of what we're going through at this current moment, and be very literal about it, and I think sometimes we shy away from that because we're like, ‘oh, man, if we're too specific with these songs, it may not appeal to the masses.’ But I think we kind of took that out of consideration.”
With personal songwriting and raw emotion, Dan + Shay knew thatt there’s no room for AI in creating projects this vulnerable. Shay doubled down while talking with Rob + Holly, exclaiming how important the human connection is in music.
“I think in art, this is supposed to be human emotion being put into this, and relating to people and kind of helping us all get through this crazy life together,” he says. “I think music is such a healing thing and it's such a spiritual thing. It's all encompassing in the human experience. And AI just can't be a part of that, I think.”
“We're never going to use AI in the writing of our music or the production of our music. It's important that there is a human to human connection, and you can feel that. When it's fake, it's very fake, and people can, can tell that.”
For more from Dan + Shay, check out the full conversation above, or listen to the Friday Night Takeover on your favorite Audacy Country station. Young is now available everywhere.
The new album, ‘Young,’ is now available everywhere
The new album, ‘Young,’ is now available everywhere
