Held., het nieuwe rocktrio bestaande uit Douglas Robinson en Sal Mignano van The Sleeping en Josh Eppard van Coheed And Cambria, brengt op 15 mei hun debuutalbum GREY uit via MNRK Heavy.
De eerste kennismaking met de band komt via de single NEW YOU ANTHEM (feat. Frank Iero van My Chemical Romance).
Douglas Robinson, zanger en gitarist van Held., over het nummer:
“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.”
Frank Iero vertelt over zijn samenwerking: “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.”
Foto door: Nick Karp Held. = Douglas Robinson (vocals/gitaar), Sal Mignano (bas), and Josh Eppard (drums)
“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 voegt toe en licht toe hoe het trio, dat al door Alternative Press werd geprezen als een van de nieuwe bands om in 2026 in de gaten te houden, voor het eerst samenwerkte. “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.”
Het album is geproduceerd en gemixt door Jon Markson (Drug Church, The Story So Far) en opgenomen in The Animal Farm, Flemington, N.J. Sal Mignano: “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.”
Het nieuwe HELD. album is vanaf nu beschikbaar voor pre-order, inclusief meerdere limited edition vinyluitgaven: https://held.ffm.to/grey.
Held. online
- BIZARREKULT brengt nieuwe single “Avmakt” uit - 2 februari 2026
- Held. lanceert debuutalbum GREY op 15 mei via MNRK Heavy - 27 januari 2026
- Space of Variations + Dymytry Paradox @Patronaat, Haarlem | Born from Chaos tour - 27 januari 2026