Country Duo Return From Hiatus With Powerful Mental Health Message in New Single: ‘We Battle a Lot’

After much anticipation, Dan + Shay are officially back, marking their next chapter with the release of “Say So.”

Out now, this track finds the beloved country music duo, made up of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, stepping into new territory. Known best for their romantic ballads, the emotional single has the Grammy-winning act digging into a more serious subject matter, touching on the topic of mental health.  

“I got a call from a friend who don’t call very often / Broke it to me and I couldn’t believe that we lost him / Really felt like it came out of nowhere / But it never really comes out of nowhere / It’s crazy the pain that we carry when nobody’s watchin,” the lyrics of the first verse goes before the duo serve up an uplifting message in the chorus that someone is always around to guide the one in the dark back into the light. 

The Song Was Inspired by a Real-Life Story

Inspired by the 2025 death of their mutual friend and mentor, Ben Vaughn, the head of Warner Chappell Music Publishing, Dan + Shay discussed their process behind penning the song alongside Jimmy Robbins and David Hodges.  

“We were talking about what we wanted to write that day, and we got to talking about Ben Vaughn….[a] big part of our career and a close personal friend … .This happened a week or two after we had been hanging out at a little party at my house, celebrating “Bigger Houses” going No. 1 and “10,000 Hours” hitting a billion streams on Spotify. It was one of those things where no one saw it coming. At least we didn’t,” Smyers said of Vaughn, who had been there for Dan + Shay since day one, in an interview with Variety. 

The Song Brought Out New Emotions for the Country Duo

Smyers added that while the band’s love songs about their wife and kids are the duo’s “bread and butter,” this particular release helped them work through their own traumas. 

“I’ve personally dealt with mental health stuff over the last few years, more so than ever. We battle a lot of stuff inside and outside of ourselves. And as we were talking about Ben, we were just like, ‘Man, I wish we had known. I wish we could have reminded him that there’s always somebody on the other line,” he said. “At the time we wrote it, we were like, ‘I don’t know, man. It’s different from what we usually do. It’s not a love song.’ But it kind of is, I guess.”

Mooney added, “We were going back and forth asking, ‘Man, is this song too heavy for Dan + Shay?’ But I think people can look at us just as they see some of their friends and think, ‘There’s no way that they’re going through something. They look like they’re doing great.’ That’s just a sad reality of mental health, that no matter what it looks like on the outside, you never know what somebody’s battling with on the inside.”

The Music Video

Alongside the release, Dan + Shay paired “Say So” with a music video, which brings the lyrics to life on screen. That music video can be viewed below. 

Before releasing “Say So,” Dan + Shay had experienced a short hiatus, but they addressed their brief absence on social media, sharing a lengthy letter to their fans. 

A Message to the Fans

On Instagram on March 31, 2026, the duo wrote: “As you know, we’ve been quiet for a while, and we just wanted to start by saying thank you so much for being patient with us. No, we didn’t almost break up again lol. In fact, our friendship is stronger than ever, and we’re really proud of that.”

“Over the past year, we have gotten to spend more time in the studio together than we have since we made the Where It All Began album in 2013, and that has been so life-giving,” they continued. “Even though we’ve missed seeing everyone on the road (that changes soon – stay tuned), and keeping up with you on socials, we’ve had what we feel is the most inspired burst of creativity in our entire career, and we wanted to capture every bit of it.”

View this post on Instagram

The duo went on to say that the songs they’ve been working on, including “Say So,” are “more personal and honest than anything we have ever done before. Because the music means so much to us, we have held it close and obsessed over every detail, but now we are ready to start sharing it with the world.”

“Say So” serves as the first single from Dan + Shay’s forthcoming album. A specific release date for the project has not yet been announced.  

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide or struggling with suicidal thoughts, help is available 24 hours a day through the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.

Related: Female Country Trio Announces Hiatus In Heartbreaking Post: ‘Thank You For Being Part Of This Incredible Ride’