# ME. Drops First Single “Special” Off Debut ‘All Good Things’

- Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/me-drops-single-special/
- Published: 2026-05-13T14:15:00-05:00
- Author: Eugene Tierney

### **Introducing**⏎ **ME.****A New Project from former founding members of Taking Back Sunday Mark O’Connell and Eddie Reyes

#### **Striking First Single “**󠀁[**Special**](https://us.list-manage.com/jGZS6n8Ih1V?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb)󠁿**” Out Now**

#### **A Raw First Look at Debut Album, _ALL GOOD THINGS_**⏎ **Built From Reckoning and Reinvention out July 24**

**MAY 12, 2026 [New York, NY] —**“[**Special**](https://us.list-manage.com/E6Eq617BDA2?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb),”
the debut single from newly formed band **ME.**, doesn’t arrive quietly. Unflinching
and emotionally direct, the track explores integrity, self-awareness, and the lasting
imprint of toxic relationships, capturing the moment when reflection turns inward
and accountability becomes unavoidable.

“It’s about that feeling of losing something you can’t get back and trying to make
sense of how it got there,” says drummer **Mark O’Connell **(one of two former founding
members of alternative rock band **Taking Back Sunday** in ME., along with guitarist**
Eddie Reyes**). “There’s frustration in it, but there’s also a lot of self-awareness.
It’s not just pointing outward—it’s also looking inward.” “Special” is more than
just a first single, it’s the origin point of the band itself.

ME. wasn’t supposed to be a band, but the way it came together is exactly what gives“
Special” its weight. “Special” serves as the first glimpse into _**ALL GOOD THINGS**_(
out independently on** July 24, 2026**), ME.’s debut album: a record shaped by upheaval,
reflection, and the complicated process of starting over.

ME. - "Special" (Official Lyric Video)

[⌊ME. - "Special" (Official Lyric Video)⌉⌊ME. - "Special" (Official
Lyric Video)⌉
Watch this video on YouTube

Written initially by the two current (and former) bandmates as part of an open vocalist
casting call, “Special” became the catalyst for everything that followed. Chicago-
based vocalist **Mike Jansen**—then an outsider to the project—submitted vocals,
melody, and lyrics to the instrumental song without knowing the full weight of the
band’s history. The response was immediate. “It caught me off guard,” O’Connell 
recalls. “It felt like he understood the direction without us having to explain 
it.”

For Jansen, the process was instinctive. “There was no pressure at all,” he says.“
I didn’t even know if they would hear it. I just wrote lyrics to the instrumental
because it felt right.” The end result is a track that now defines the emotional
tone of ME.’s debut: raw, confrontational, and deeply human. 

[[

**ME. ([hi-res](https://us.list-manage.com/STu66nxxFEx?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb))**

photo credit: Amber Patrick

At the center of the project are four musicians – O’Connell (_drummer_), Reyes (
_guitarist_), **Mike Jansen **(_vocalist and guitarist_), **Neal Amiruddin** (_bassist_)–
whose paths converged at a moment shaped by time, distance, and hard-earned clarity.
For O’Connell and Reyes, the reconnection came after nearly a decade apart after
both left Taking Back Sunday —not as a planned reunion, but as an attempt to finally
understand what had been left unresolved from their past. “It wasn’t about timing
in the industry sense,” says O’Connell. “It was about timing as people.”

Importantly, ME. is not a reunion. It doesn’t attempt to recreate the past or trade
on legacy. Instead, it represents a conscious decision to build something entirely
fresh with a different divergent. “We’re not trying to recreate anything,” O’Connell
explains. “We’ve already done that. This was about building something that works
for who we are now.”

Reyes adds, “We are not the same guys we were 25 years ago. This is about growth.
It’s about creating something new.” That intention shaped the band’s earliest creative
decisions. Stripping everything back, O’Connell and Reyes wrote and recorded nine
instrumentals themselves, no frontman, no hierarchy, creating space for the music
to exist without expectation or outside pressure.

But “Special” changed everything. Jansen’s lyrics and outsider perspective gave 
the songs a new dimension and vocabulary, allowing the instrumentals to evolve beyond
Reyes and O’Connell’s shared origins. What began as a potential collaboration quickly
became essential. “At a certain point, it didn’t feel like he was contributing to
something,” says O’Connell. “It felt like we were building something together.”

Not long after, bassist **Neal Amiruddin** joined the lineup, bringing both history
and grounding to the project. A lifelong friend within the same musical orbit, his
presence added a sense of trust and stability that solidified the band. “Your goal
in life is to surround yourself with good people,” says Reyes. “Neal is good people.”

[[

[[**_ALL GOOD THINGS_
Tracklist:

 1.  An Introduction
 2.  Bloodsport
 3.  Grown Man
 4.  [Special](https://us.list-manage.com/TXU4jtSQXdh?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb)
 5.  Violent People
 6.  Nuzzo
 7.  Big Smiles
 8.  Sun Poison
 9.  Soap Bar
 10. The Astronaut Show
 11. This Is What It Feels Like To Be Normal

Together, these four distinct voices form ME.—a band built on trust, communication,
and creative freedom.

Written during one of the most turbulent periods in O’Connell and Reyes’ lives, 
the album channels years of tension, estrangement, and personal growth into something
cohesive and deeply honest. But that perspective is only part of the story. 

Jansen’s role proved transformative. Entering the project from the outside — newly
married, grounded, and creatively energized — he wasn’t carrying the same history.
That distance allowed him to interpret the music in a way O’Connell and Reyes couldn’t,
giving voice to emotions they hadn’t fully articulated and, at times, reframing 
them entirely. O’Connell says it was a clarity that helped push the songs beyond
reflection into something more expansive.

That dynamic (lived experience on one side, fresh perspective on the other) became
central to the identity of _ALL GOOD THINGS_. Rather than simply documenting conflict,
the album evolves through it, shaped equally by confrontation, reinterpretation,
and forward motion.
The result is an album that feels less like a collection of 
songs and more like a progression—moving through conflict, vulnerability, and, ultimately,
a form of acceptance. The title _ALL GOOD THINGS_ reflects that journey. While it
nods to the familiar phrase, the band reframes it as something more expansive: not
an ending, but what comes after. What gets rebuilt when everything familiar falls
apart.

“At its core, it’s about survival, reinvention, and choosing to move forward,” the
band shares. “Some things end, but that doesn’t mean the story is over.”For ME.,
this project represents a rare kind of second chance, to approach something new 
with clarity and intention. “This is about doing things differently,” says O’Connell.“
If we can do that, then whatever it becomes will mean something.”

**ME.**’s debut single “[**Special**](https://us.list-manage.com/12QAj8Dj9oF?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb)”
is out now. _**ALL GOOD THINGS**_ will be released independently on **July 24**,**
2026**. Album pre-orders available now [**here**](https://us.list-manage.com/1AjW_mWXWiI?e=615f2b8493&c2id=fe32c1ddbd60eeaebb1f350fafcd06fb).

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[⌊Reybee Inc⌉⌊Reybee Inc⌉[

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