HELD. announce debut album ‘GREY’

January 27, 2026 James Weaver

HELD. have announced their debut album!

GREY, the first full-length offering from the trio featuring Douglas Robinson and Sal Mignano of THE SLEEPING and Josh Eppard of COHEED & CAMBRIA is set for release on May 15th via MNRK Heavy.

Produced and mixed by Jon Markson [DRUG CHURCH, THE STORY SO FAR], GREY was recorded at the Animal Farm in Flemington, N.J. Detailing the band’s origins, Josh Eppard shares, “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. 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.”

Arriving alongside the announcement is their powerful debut single, NEW YOU ANTHEM, featuring Frank Iero of MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, offering a first glimpse into the emotional, anthemic spirit of the record.

Speaking about the track, vocalist/guitarist Douglas Robinson explains, “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. 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 adds, “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.”