“I hope fans feel like they’re getting to witness the start of something,” says drummer Mark O’Connell of ME. about their new video for ‘Grown Man’, which premiered via New Noise. Taken from their debut ‘All Good Things’, which will be independently released on July 24th, 2026, it is the follow-up single to ‘Special’ which was unleashed last month. “When I watch it now, I don’t just see a performance. I see the weekend when ME. stopped feeling like an idea and started feeling like a band.”
‘Grown Man’ is a song that brought the band together with guitarist Eddie Reyes and Mark O’Connell (both former members of Taking Back Sunday). ME. presents a new beginning with a new sound and musical outlook for them. With the addition of vocalist Mike Jansen and bassist Neal Amiruddin, ME. completed the circle and allowed them to take a whole new direction. “We want to share this music with the world and go back to having fun again,” continues O’Connell.
The ‘Grown Man’ video was shot by 17-year-old independent director Austin Lipinski, who captured the band’s strong connection casually and unintentionally. A family friend of Reyes‘ son who has taken up shooting hiphop videos, Lipinski captured off-the-cuff and unscripted footage that naturally evolved into the video. “Austin was coming by to shoot some footage while we rehearsed,” O’Connell adds. “There wasn’t a treatment, a shot list, or some elaborate plan. He just documented what was happening naturally over that weekend.”
“The ‘Grown Man’ music video wasn’t planned at all actually,” Lipinski recalls. “Originally, I was gathering footage to create a recap of ME.’s rehearsal, aiming to capture a similar feel to Weezer’s ‘Say It Ain’t So’ music video. After the shoot, the idea of creating a music video out of my rehearsal footage and I was more than happy to take on that challenge.”
“The song isn’t just about love. It’s about trust. It’s about second chances,” “It’s about finding someone who believes in you when you’ve forgotten how to believe in yourself.” With all members learning to trust again, in friendships and love, ‘Grown Man’ is an important and reflective track for ME.” Jansen adds.
“I hope people can relate with the theme,” says Jansen. “To be excited about love and anxious about it at the same time is pretty normal to me, but is often separated into two different concepts.”