Review of: ‘Dan + Shay’ by Dan + Shay

After two surprisingly good album’s, I was looking forward to the new self titled album by pop country duo Dan + Shay. In the tide of pop / bro country stars that took hold of the genre when it caught on, Dan + Shay was among the better ones, capable of combining accessible pop country hooks, rich and textured country instrumentation, and also occasionally injecting some true drama into their lyrics. Talented songwriters were rare indeed during the bro country boom when the duo rose to attention after a few singles.

I hadn’t heard an awful lot of songs teasing this upcoming album, but I was still rooted for these guys. All I was truly hoping for was that the production played to their strengths, and the rest would follow. Did it happen?

Well, yes and no. I’ll put it this way. Dan + Shay’s self titled album is by far their least dramatic, least instrumentally diverse and rich, and, overall, a rather boring affair. Undoubtedly a disappointment, and the fact that there was potential in this album makes the entire album even more disappointing. A key issue is the inconsistencies in the production. Most of the time it is utterly dry and flavourless, similar to the worst songs of their previous album ‘Obsessed’: far too stiff, not enough melody. What happened to the endlessly sticky hooks? They seem to have been replaced by flat, basic melodies far too simple to be remotely memorable courtesy of the guitars. It’s only when the darker, misty piano’s pick up a bit of texture in the mix do the songs start building some pathos. Both the organic texture that builds up on ‘Tequila’ and the explosive hook that builds some pathos on ‘Keeping Score’, a track where Kelly Clarkson turns up and has surprisingly good chemistry with Shay Mooney. Among the highlights is the quieter ‘My Side Of The Fence’ as well as the opener ‘Alone Together’. While both of these tracks lacks on drama, the do flex the duo’s storytelling skills nevertheless, even if they’re both underwhelming written.

It’s not the only bad song on the album, though. The lumbering, choppy cadence of the pandering ‘What Keeps You Up At Night’ and the utterly forgettable ‘Speechless’ both mark low points that male up a a compromised album.

On the other side of this album you get a song like ‘No Such Thing’ where I swear the production team sneaked in some thin, rattling, clearly programmed high hats right at the back of the mix on the hook that seem to contradict with Dan + Shay’s entire appeal. Furthermore, a popular pop country band does not need to pander to the trap trend. Luckily, this is just the one song.

But what about the songwriting? I’ve already discussed ‘Alone Together’ and ‘My Side Of The Fence’ being agreeable if undramatic, and the unfortunate truth is that most of the album fits into this category. A few songs do hit the mark. In terms of capturing the moment when the memory of an ex comes flooding back to you, you could do a lot worse than ‘Tequila’. Same with ‘Keeping Score’ where I appreciate the sentiment of wanting to focus on the present and not the future in the context of a relationship. Other than that, ‘Speechless’ is an utterly pointless boring love song, ‘Island Time’ is a dull closer, ‘Make Me, Break Me’ tries to show the protagonist in the midst of an unhealthy relationship that you wonder why he doesn’t just end, and ‘What Keeps You Up At Night’ and ‘No Such Thing’ might be the most pathetic attempts at pandering I’ve heard by this band, with the latter song including the line ‘There’s no such thing as too much money / ‘Cause if I had it all, I would spend it on you, honey’.

Overall, this album is not unbearable. It’s pleasant (barely) but you could do so much better than this album in pop country (either of the band’s previous albums for instance). It’s an extremely light 2.5 / 5You could probably get away with skipping it.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

Best Songs: ‘Tequila’, ‘Keeping Score’, ‘Alone Together’

Worst Songs: ‘No Such Thing’, ‘What Keeps You Up At Night’