When Dan + Shay‘s 2018 album came out, Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney kept it simple: the cover’s nothing more than their name on a blank background.
Fast forward to Good Things, their new record out today. The pair’s gone all out, heading to California’s Joshua Tree for the photo shoot — even jumping in the water for what turned out to be the cover art.
“There was a swimming pool there,” Dan explains, “and it was 110 degrees out in the desert. We’re like, ‘Man, it would feel pretty good to go in that pool. Maybe we could get a picture while we’re in there. It might be the thing.'”
“You think about all these iconic album covers,” he reflects, “and they’re always just some random spur-of-the-moment, unplanned thing.”
“We dipped our toes in first,” he continues, “It was like, ‘What if we, like, put our jeans in?’ And then we just kept going in further. The photographer just jumped in, in his clothes… and he’s underwater shooting these photos.”
Sure enough, out of 11,000 shots, a pool photo turned out to be the one.
“It was just that magic moment,” Dan says. “We weren’t staged… we were just… laughing and having a good time.”
“We’re like, ‘How’s it look? Does it look sick? Is it anything?'” he recalls. “[The photographer] said ‘Honestly, man, I can’t see any of these photos. I’m underwater.'”
“It wasn’t until we got back to Nashville that we were able to see those,” Dan reveals. “And there was something magical about that unplanned moment… We were at peace… at ease. And I feel like there’s kinda that thread throughout the album.”
Good Things features the hits “10,000 Hours,” “I Should Probably Go to Bed,” and “Glad You Exist,” plus nine new tracks.
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