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Dan + Shay
Dan Smyers (left) and Shay Mooney are the Grammy-winning duo Dan + Shay.
Catherine Powell*
When Dan + Shay were on the road earlier this year, Dan Smyers would retreat to his bunk after the show, get stoned, and immerse himself in the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. He had discovered the isolated a cappella tracks to the 1966 album online and studied the way Brian Wilson arranged the intricate vocal parts.
“That inspired me more than anything,” Smyers tells Rolling Stone. “Over the course of releasing records, you evolve into your sound. You find what your lane is, be it at country radio or just in the music marketplace. And for us, the vocals are the thing. As much as I practice, I’m never going to be a great guitar player or a savant musician, but I can arrange vocals really well.”
Smyers proves his point with Dan + Shay’s majestic new single “I Should Probably Go to Bed.” Written by Smyers and Shay Mooney with Sean Douglas and Jason Evigan, and released Friday, it’s a swirling, successful experiment in stacked vocals and tight harmonies that draws upon elements of ELO’s A New World Record, Queen’s A Night at the Opera, and those Pet Sounds arrangements that Smyers dissected on the bus.
“I listened to those old records when vocals were so important. The most impressive thing to me about all of that is those guys did it for real. They did it live and would rehearse and have to sing it as a group,” says Smyers, who admits he had the luxury of modern recording techniques when tracking “I Should Probably Go to Bed.”