On 23rd October 2026, Liverpool rock band RISE put out “Talking To Your Ghost Again,” a deeply personal single about loss and grief. In 2022, the band lost its original singer, Steve Kinley, who died following a short battle with cancer. The song was written by his twin brother, Paul Kinley.
The theme is a difficult one for the band, and it took time to get the track to the right place in terms of feeling and expression. Even so, the song tries to be uplifting in its overall feeling and delivery.
“This [is] very much a song for those who knew Ste.” — Paul Kinley
“Talking To Your Ghost Again” features a standout vocal from stayMellow, who has again collaborated with RISE on this release. His range and emotional delivery are exceptional, and the vocal harmonies were deliberately mixed high in the track to keep the expression and emotion at the front of the song.
The other element that stands out is the guitar work of Brian Petch: detailed, and beautifully delivered. The track carries more of the band’s progressive rock influences than recent releases, and includes twin 12-string guitar work from both Petch and stayMellow.
The band really believes in the track, and the care they put into getting it right shows in the result.
The song was recorded at Whitewood Studios in Liverpool and produced by Rob Whiteley and Paul Kinley. The band has worked with Whiteley for a number of years.
“He has a way of capturing the band’s overall sound, which is really important to us; he is a man of detail,” Paul Kinley says. “The RISE sound is quite rich and complex; it’s very distinctive. We have worked hard to ensure the band has a recognisable and consistent sound. This goes back over many years and countless gigs.”
A video for the track was recorded during the song’s recording sessions across the summer of 2026 at Whitewood Studios. It mixes animation and live action around the song’s lyrics, and was produced by Matt at Lodge Productions.
