bigger houses by dan + shay | ranking & thoughts

courtesy of @danandshay on Instagram

ever since the beginning of this year, Dan + Shay's most recent album has consumed a lot of my daily listening, which is something I never really expected to say.

I have a lot of positive memories and love for certain Dan + Shay songs. in the summer of 2016 when I first fell in love with country music, their current singles at radio (From the Ground Up and How Not To) were in heavy rotation on the playlists I would listen to, and I was a big fan of them. even before I really started listening to country music, I was a big fan of Home Free and their cover of Dan + Shay's 2013 hit 19 You + Me was one of my favourite cuts of theirs for a while.

because of all this, whenever Dan + Shay released a new project, I would give it a couple listens, pick out the songs I enjoyed, add them to my playlist, and go on with my life. as time went on, and their music started to lean a bit more pop than it used to, there were less songs that would stick out to me. when Bigger Houses was released late last year, I wanted to give it a listen, but it wasn't super high on my priority list because there was other music that had my focus at that time. after the Christmas music season died down and I was left looking for some music to fill that void, I decided to finally turn to this album (I love Dan + Shay's Christmas music as well, so that definitely inspired this decision) and I could not stop listening to it.

I loved every song on this project upon first listen. then, after diving more into some interviews and content Dan + Shay released surrounding this album, it only made me love it even more. they go into stories about how the music on this album saved their friendship and their band, and how they really went back to their roots with this music and the more obvious country influence than some of their recent music has had. you can hear the passion come through in these songs for sure -- and I think that's why some of them resonate so much.

I think that this album is a really great example of what a pop-country fusion project should sound like. modern country fans will enjoy elements of it, but I think it could also be played for those who aren't country fans at all and they would enjoy it as well. I'm incredibly happy that this was the album that Dan + Shay decided to return with, and I hope their music in the future continues down this road.

like I said, I enjoy every song on this album and often just listen to it all the way through, but there are some I like more than others and elements of some that I don't love. so, here is my ranking of all the songs, and a couple thoughts on each.

12 / Heaven + Back

this is a fun song, I can admit. I just don't really love the lyrics (I feel like they could do better and write a more personal love song) and I find that this is not a song I would choose to listen to out of the context of listening to the whole album all the way through.

11 / We Should Get Married

I think that the reason this is so low is because it lyrically also feels a little bit random in the narrative of this album as a whole. this album feels like it's showcasing where Dan + Shay are currently and most of the songs tie together well, but this feels out of place. musically, it has some pretty country instrumentation which I enjoy, but it's also not a song I gravitate towards often.

10 / Missing Someone

this song has grown on me. similarly to the last song, I think it's not super representative of their life currently and doesn't come across as genuine as some of the other songs, but it's a pretty ballad and a good, standard, sad country song.

9 / For The Both Of Us

this song feels very on-brand for them to do. in the past few years, Dan + Shay has arguably monopolized the country wedding song realm with hits like Speechless and From The Ground Up, and I think it was cute of them to take that from a different perspective with this cut. I like the story that this song tells and it's not something heard in music too often.

8 / Breakin' Up With a Broken Heart

I think this is a great album opener musically. it's nice and upbeat and sets a good tone for what's to come of the record. however, some of the lyrical moments bother me a little bit. specifically the line "sending my tears in a taxi, 'til they turn happy". I don't have a good reason for this, I've just always found that part to come off a bit cheesy.

7 / Bigger Houses

this is a perfect album closer and wraps up the album very well. it's simple musically and allows their voices to shine. the lyrics are nice and reflective and you can feel that they're telling of where Dan + Shay are at in their lives now.

6 / What Took You So Long

this is one of two really vocally strong ballads on this album that I feel are very classically Dan + Shay. I love the melodies and cadence that lead into the chorus, making this song super fun to listen to and even more fun to sing along to in the car.

5 / Then Again

I love the sentiment of this song. I've always been a big fan of the idea that every little thing leads to another, and these lyrics highlight that really well. it's a sweet and reflective love song that I think (along with Bigger Houses and Always Gonna Be) sum up the themes on this project.

4 / Always Gonna Be

in almost all the press that Dan + Shay did for this album, they talk about the discussion they had about making music as a band again, and about how a phrase that Dan said ultimately lead them to make the conclusion to keep going. he basically said that Dan + Shay will always be someone's first dance song, or a tattoo on someone's arm, and that they should keep going for the fans. they wrote down that thought, and eventually turned it into this song! it's interesting that they took a more romantic turn with these lyrics, but I still like that this is the story behind it, because it ended up kickstarting this album all together.

3 / Heartbreak on the Map

I love the harmonies, melodies, lyrics, and instrumentation of this song. also, a big reason why I wanted to write this entry was to share my theory that the girl in this song and the girl in Morgan Wallen's Somebody's Problem are the same one. I was listening to this song for the first time and they mentioned that she has a "30A bumper sticker", and I immediately went to check if the two songs shared any co-writers, and sure enough, ERNEST is on both of them (and as a big fan of his, this makes me very happy that he has a cut on this album). I ended up DMing him asking if the character is the same and he still hasn't seen it. I will continue to imagine them as the same person until I have been told otherwise.

2 / Save Me the Trouble

as the lead single off this album, this was the first song I heard and I think it will always have a special place in my heart. it is two of two of strong vocal ballads, and their voices really shine here. it's a very classic country-esque lyric about a guy sitting alone in a bar and seeing a girl who he knows won't be good for him.

1 / Neon Cowgirl

aaaaa I love this song a lot. I've always loved neon imagery in country songs, and this is one of my favourite applications I've ever heard of it (probably alongside Neon Light Speed by Jon Pardi and Nothin' New Under The Neon by Midland). I think the story in this song is so sweet -- it's basically just a guy watching a girl sitting under the neon at a bar and she has presumably just been left by her ex-boyfriend, and the narrator of the song is telling her that "rain stops falling, and hearts unbreak, so let that cowboy ride away". I think this song perfectly blends some classic country tropes with modern elements to make a really strong penultimate track on this project.

-

ranking: nine out of ten 30A stickers