Dan + Shay (album)


Dan + Shay is the third studio album by American country duo Dan + Shay. It was released on June 22, 2018, via Warner Bros. Records Nashville. The album includes the singles "Tequila," "Speechless," and "All to Myself." It was nominated for the Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year and
American Music Award for Favorite Country Album.

Background

The duo announced the track listing via social media in May 2018. In addition to lead single "Tequila", they announced that the album would contain a duet with Kelly Clarkson. Group member Dan Smyers told Taste of Country, "I feel like this is the first time we really nailed it telling our story, saying what we want to say and putting the songs out that sound like we want to sound and how we want to be perceived. It feels really special, the whole body of work."

Critical reception

Cillea Houghton of Sounds Like Nashville reviewed the album with favor, stating that it "not only demonstrate how they've evolved musically on their self-titled record, but prove the purity that lives in their songwriting." It received 3.5 out of 5 stars from Rolling Stone, whose Jon Freeman wrote that the duo "maintain their low-key approach, delighting in simple, domestic pleasures and providing a reminder to pause and take a breath." Rating it 3 out of 5 stars, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic was more mixed, saying that the album "may not be much more than aural wallpaper but that's all it's intended to be and, on that level, it's well executed: it's so slick and smooth, it doesn't make a single wave."

Commercial performance

Dan + Shay debuted at number six on US Billboard 200 chart and number one on US Top Country Albums, selling 44,000 album-equivalent units in its first week of release. The album was certified gold on March 6, 2019, by the Recording Industry Association of America, and then platinum on November 13, 2019, for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 1,000,000 units in the United States. The album has sold 167,400 copies in the United States as of December 2019, and 1,280,000 units consumed in total as of February 2020.

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic
Dan + Shay
Additional Personnel

Production

  • Rohan Kohli – A&R direction
  • Scott Hendricks – A&R direction, producer, additional recording, digital editing
  • Dan Smyers – producer, additional recording, additional recording assistant, digital editing
  • Jeff Balding – recording
  • Jason Halbert – vocal recording, additional recording assistant
  • Josh Ditty – assistant engineer
  • Matt Coles – assistant engineer
  • Justin Bennington – additional recording assistant
  • Clark Schleicher – additional recording assistant
  • Derek Wells – additional recording assistant
  • Kevin Harper – additional recording assistant
  • Joe Baldridge – vocal recording assistant
  • Jeff Fitzpatrick – vocal recording assistant
  • Brian David Willis – digital editing
  • Nir Z – digital editing
  • Jeff Juliano – mixing at The Compound
  • Andrew Mendelson – mastering at Georgetown Masters
  • Scott Johnson – production assistant
  • Patrick Tracy – art direction, design
  • Clark Mims Tedesco – artist development
  • Scooter Braun, Jason Owen and Lisa Ray – management

Charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Australian Country Albums 10
Canadian Albums 38
US Billboard 20026
US Top Country Albums 2

Chart Position
Australian Country Albums 19
US Billboard 20094
US Top Country Albums 8

Chart Position
Australian Country Albums 31
US Top Country Albums 26

Chart Position
US Top Country Albums 61