Dan + Shay Delve Into The Night That 'Changed Everything' For Their Future

Dan + Shay delved into how they rebuilt their friendship and working relationship in a new interview, days before they officially debut their next era of music. The award-winning duo and country music mainstays — made up of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney — revealed earlier this year that they nearly quit music after undergoing intense burnout and going four months without speaking to one another.

Smyers, 36, and Mooney, 31, took a break from each other after wrapping up their arena tour in 2021, and Mooney, now a father of three, recalled being “unhappy” when they didn’t have time to appreciate what they’d been able to accomplish. The pair used that time to focus on their families and their health before deciding the future of Dan + Shay. They met in March 2022 to discuss the fate of the band.

“I headed over to his house and honestly at that point I didn't really know what the future of the band was going to be. And I got there, and it just was the most incredible night," Mooney said in an interview with PEOPLE, shared on Wednesday (September 13). "That night kind of changed everything because we aired a lot of stuff out. I apologized for things in the past and he did the same. We had this come-to-Jesus moment."

Smyers told PEOPLE that now, “it's like we've rekindled that friendship that we had early on. …Dan + Shay is always going to be something to somebody.”

Dan + Shay are slated to release their next full-length album, Bigger Houses, on Friday (September 15). The album was written in the midst of Smyers and Mooney’s rebuilding efforts. So far, they’ve released a few tracks from the highly-anticipated collection, including “Save Me The Trouble,” “We Should Get Married,” “Always Gonna Be” and others.

“We love this band. This has been our life. It matters. It matters to people and we had a responsibility and we owed it to them,” Mooney previously said. “It’s amazing to know now that we found that joy that we were talking about. …it’s changed our lives. I mean honestly, the process of this album completely changed our lives.”