In summer 2002, Mesh STL entered the studio once again with producer Malcolm Springer to begin recording demos for a new album. Among the new tracks recorded was "Down", which made its way onto the soundtracks for "EA Sports NHL 2004" and "NASCAR Thunder 2004" video games. The track was the first heard live as early as spring 2002, and it was the first heard of the recordings for the band's second full-length album. The Firm's record label closed shop in 2003, leaving Mesh once again without major-label support. The band continued recording and members of the band formed their own record label, Bullet 339 Records. The band announced that the title of the upcoming album would be "Coming Up For Air". Lead singer Scott Gertken explained the title of the forthcoming record, "We've been suffocated by the industry. It's in such a bad state right now. But we feel a breath of fresh air doing this ourselves and being excited about it. So instead of suffocating, we're coming up for air."