Since releasing the mega-hit “Shut Up and Dance” in 2014, WALK THE MOON certainly hasn’t shut up, but definitely has kept dancing.
The trio has followed “Shut Up and Dance” with singles including 2017’s “One Foot” and this year’s “Can You Handle My Love??”, the lead track off the new WTM album, HEIGHTS. While those tunes haven’t quite matched the record-breaking feats of “Shut Up and Dance,” they’ve marked important creative steps for the group.
“We’re all really grateful for ‘Shut Up and Dance,'” guitarist Eli Maiman tells ABC Audio. “It put a lot of gas in our tank. We can continue to be able to put out music and to be able to do more of what we want to do because we’ve been propelled by…this massive thing that was ‘Shut Up and Dance.'”
Maiman adds that WALK THE MOON doesn’t feel pressure to deliver another “Shut Up and Dance.”
“Don’t get me wrong, if something else goes as huge as ‘Shut Up and Dance,’ we’d be thrilled, but we’re not reaching for it,” he explains. “We’re able to do things that are really true to who the band is, as we evolve as human beings and live our lives.”
In returning to the road this past fall for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, WALK THE MOON was reminded how special it feels to play “Shut Up and Dance” live, despite playing it so many times.
“We don’t like practicing ‘Shut Up and Dance,'” Maiman laughs. “But playing ‘Shut Up and Dance’ is great. When the audience shows up and they’re singing and they’re dancing and they’re jumping and they’re sweating and they’re doing the whole thing, it’s magic every single night.”
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