Dan + Shay fans may want grab a shot glass and pour themselves some "Tequila" ... or they can just listen to the country music duo's brand new single of the same name.
The Nashville based singer/songwriters are setting the stage for 2018 with their brand new song "Tequila," and no, it's not the drinking song that you might expect just be reading the track's title. In fact the meaning behind the song is something extremely relatable, and during an exclusive interview with iHeartRadio, the guys opened up about the song and how it evolved from the idea of a "fun party song" into something more emotional.
"Tequila" is the first new piece of new music from Dan + Shay since they released from their 2016 album Obsessed, and the song is only the beginning of new music from the duo this year. In a handwritten thank you note to fans at the end of 2017, the guys wrote "As exciting as the past 2 years have been, we're over the moon with excitement for what's to come in 2018. We have been so passionately working on the new project, and promise, it is, by far, our best work yet."
Dan + Shay's new song talks about how something, like tequila, can trigger memories ... in this case it's a relationship. The guys sing in the chorus, "I can drink whiskey and red wine/Champagne all night/Little scotch on the rocks and I'm fine, I'm fine/But when I taste tequila/Baby I still see ya/Cuttin' up the floor in a sorority t-shirt/The same one you wore when were/Sky high in Colorado/Lips pressed against the bottle/Swearin' on the bible, baby I'd never leave ya/I remember how bad I need ya/When I taste tequila."
Dan + Shay tell iHeartRadio that the song came out of a writing session at Ocean Way in Nashville with two of their favorite songwriters Jordan Reynolds and Nicolle Galyon. Jordan had suggested writing a song called "Tequila," which at first sounded like a "fun party song, kind of up tempo vibe." But the guys took it to the next level by making the story a bit more nostalgic. They explain:
"We were like, what would be a cool, nostalgic way to talk about tequila? People have nostalgic attachments to senses like smells and tastes and sounds, and tequila is one of those things. Libations of any kind will take you back to a certain place [and] make you see certain things, and it's kind of a story like that. It's kind of a heartbreak song, and it's ... I can do all these things. I can drink whiskey, red wine, champagne all night, but when I taste tequila, I'm right back there in that memory, and I'm right back there with that girl. All the lyrics are super visual."
The duo explain they are particularly proud of how the song transformed into the finish product. They explain, "It was really cool to be able to see this song transform into what it is. We're just so proud of this, and we always want to better ourselves and try to put out better music for our fans. Every album and every single. So, I think that we've done that with this."
Dan also tells us, "We went in on the track, and it's one of my favorite vocals Shay's ever recorded. It's super emotional. Played it for everybody, especially our wives, and they were like, 'Yeah, that's got to be the single.' We trust them. They're always right."
Shay adds, "I feel like a lot of people aren't expecting a song called 'Tequila' from Dan + Shay. A lot of people probably heard that and [were] like, 'Hmmm. I can't wait to hear what this is about.' But it was really cool to be able to kind of twist that in typical Dan + Shay fashion, to hear a title like 'Tequila,' and to write heartbreak songs."
Listen to Dan + Shay's new single "Tequila" above!