Dan + Shay Are Way Over It (Maybe) in New Song ‘Lying’ [Listen]
Dan + Shay didn't actually co-write their new song "Lying" with Bill Withers (the late soul legend died at the end of March 2020), but attentive listeners will hear something familiar and attributable to him in the melody.
Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney co-wrote "Lying" with Andy Albert and Jordan Reynolds. But that jazzy piano line throughout the country duo's new song — produced by Smyers — is an interpolation of Withers' classic hit "Lean on Me."
"I don't miss you in my bed / I don't hear you in my head / I don't love you, I'm not cryin' / And I swear, I'm not lyin'," Dan + Shay profess in harmony in the chorus. The verses double down on the message that this song's narrator is all the way over his ex ... but listen a little more and all their bombastic professions might leave you feeling a bit dubious.
Dan + Shay dropped "Lying" on Thursday evening (July 29), accompanied by an extremely fun music video directed by Dani Vitale and Patrick Tracy. A Cactus Club performance by the duo leads to plenty of dancing in the bar ... and, then, in its parking lot. Smyers and Mooney lead the fancy footwork out front — could their moves be the next TikTok craze?
"Lying" is one of 12 songs on Dan + Shay's forthcoming new album, Good Things. It's the pair's fourth studio album, and it's due out on Aug. 13, the same day they'll play a large, outdoor show at Nashville's Centennial Park. It'll be a practice, of sorts, for their The (Arena) Tour, which is scheduled to pick back up this fall, after a COVID-19-imposed hiatus.
Dan + Shay's co-writers for Good Things include pop singers Shawn Mendes and Julia Michaels, Old Dominion member Brad Tursi and more. Smyers produced the whole album, with occasional assistance from Evigan, Scott Hendricks and Jordan Reynolds.
In addition to "Lying," Dan + Shay's new album contains three hit sings: the multi-platinum, award-winning "10,000 Hours" — a collaboration with Justin Bieber; the platinum-certified "I Should Probably Go to Bed;" and the pair's current single, "Glad You Exist." The latter song is currently in the Top 10 at country radio.
Dan + Shay released their last album, a self-titled effort, in June of 2018. The platinum-certified project includes the multi-platinum singles "All to Myself," Speechless" and "Tequila," the latter two of which earned several awards nominations. Both songs won the pair Best Country Duo / Group Performance Grammys trophies, while "Tequila" won both Single and Song of the Year at the ACM Awards.