Held., the trio featuring both Douglas Robinson and Sal Mignano of The Sleeping and Josh Eppard from Coheed And Cambria, release their debut album, GREY, on May 15 via MNRK Heavy.
An introduction to the band arrives with “NEW YOU ANTHEM” (https://held.ffm.to/newyouanthem) featuring My Chemical Romance’s Frank Iero on the powerful 3-plus-minute anthem.
“I wrote the idea for this song in my room. I was motivated to write something anthemic, not for the sake of being purely anthemic but more or less therapeutic for people who feel down all of the time,” vocalist/guitar player Douglas Robinson explains. “I feel this a lot in my life. It’s a heavy vibe I have to push through more times than not. I wanted to write something that encapsulates the feeling of any kind of love as survival. I reference different points of love throughout the song: music, friendship, sound, belief in yourself, and the desire for others to believe in you. It’s subtle but it’s all there: ‘if our infection is loving, then we’re drinking up to the swell of the sun.’ I wrote this as an ode to people who love all elements in their lives with so much passion. Even if you feel yourself beaten and broken down every single day.”
Iero reflects on how interconnected he has been with the members of Held.: “My Chemical Romance played a few shows with The Sleeping on the East Coast way back in the day, and I have always been a fan of Douglas’ voice and songwriting. Recently, when my friend Mike Dubin hit me up and said he was managing Douglas’ new project with Josh from Coheed on drums, another mutual friend, and that they were wondering if I’d be interested in singing on a song, I immediately said yes. It’s always a pleasure getting to work with new people; it opens doors and makes your brain work in different ways. Especially when those people are artists that you respect and are already a fan of. I’m flattered they wanted to have me on the record and I think the track turned out super rad. ‘NEW YOU ANTHEM’ is a great song, and our voices work together really well.”
“Woodstock has long been a beacon for artists across all genres. The town, in its guts, is home to world class musicians and studios and has served as a sandbox of sorts for the three of us throughout our careers,” Eppard adds, detailing how the trio, who have already been hailed by Alternative Press as one of the new bands to watch in 2026, first worked together. “It feels awfully serendipitous that our first time playing together was in that town, in a studio (Applehead studios) where we’d all crafted career defining albums with our previous projects. Personally, I felt the hands of the universe at play when Michael Birnbaum (longtime Coheed/The Sleeping producer) called me and said ‘Yo, Doug and Sal are coming through… wanna jam?’ To be honest I’ve gotten quite a few of those kinds of calls over the years. This time, I said yes.”
Produced and mixed by Jon Markson (Drug Church, The Story So Far), GREY was recorded at the Animal Farm in Flemington, N.J. “Recording this record with Jon at the Animal Farm was really special,” Mignano shares. “Jon is a creative monster. He was a perfect match for this band. The Animal Farm itself has an insanely good energy that makes it seamless and easy to create.”
Album pre-orders, including multiple limited-edition vinyl variants, are available now: https://held.ffm.to/grey.