Held., the new band featuring members of Coheed and Cambria and The Sleeping, have shared a fresh track featuring a certified legend.
So, just in case you’re not aware, Held. is made up of Douglas Robinson and Sal Mignano, vocalist and bassist in The Sleeping, and Josh Eppard, drummer in Coheed and Cambria. A supergroup full of genuine talent, passion and heart, to say the least.
And that sentiment is abundant in ‘NEW YOU ANTHEM’, a wonderfully balance piece of angular rock full of crisp melodies, sensational beats and crashing waves of noise. It’s alternative music at its finest, and if that wasn’t enough, it also features a wonderful feature from none other than Frank Iero.
Stretching the vocal cords that get worked out in L.S. Dunes and his solo work the most, he slots into place perfectly, matching the band’s energy and earnest.
Basically, it is bloody brilliant.
Frank had this to say about how the collaboration came to be from his end, explaining, “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.”
Whilst Douglas had this to say about what inspired him to write the track, stating, “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.”
The song is the first to be taken from the band’s upcoming album ‘GREY’, which will be released on May 15 via MNRK Heavy.
The full tracklisting looks like this:
01. DEFENDING THE EARTH
02. NEW YOU ANTHEM (Ft. Frank Iero)
03. CONSTANT TENSION
04. KNIFEPOINT (FT. High Vis)
05. WAVES OF FIRE
06. GREY
07. I AND I AGAINST YOU ALL
08. THROUGH THE CRACKS
09. BROKEN SPACESUIT (DECAY AND SAND)
10. EMPTINESS: A SIDE EFFECT
And the artwork is like this:
