With Again And Again, Henry Stoll and The Rising Shine Project deliver a song that feels lived-in — not manufactured, not trendy, but earned. After decades as a fixture in the New York and Pennsylvania live music scenes, Stoll sounds like an artist who knows exactly what he wants to say and, more importantly, how to say it so listeners hear themselves in it. At its core, Again And Again is a song about repetition — not the catchy kind, but the emotional loops we trap ourselves in. Drawing from a deeply personal story of a doomed relationship with a self-destructive partner, Stoll avoids self-pity or finger-pointing. Instead, he reframes the experience into something nearly universal: the cycle of doubt, damage, hope, and relapse that defines so many relationships and inner struggles. The result is a song that feels honest without being indulgent, specific without being alienating.
The track reflects Stoll’s wide-ranging influences. There’s a grounding in rock and blues, a storyteller’s sensibility rooted in folk, and a soulful emotional delivery that carries the weight of the lyrics. His guitar work is confident and expressive rather than flashy, serving the song’s emotional arc instead of competing with it. The performance feels less like a studio construction and more like a moment pulled straight from the stage — intimate, raw, and direct. Stoll delivers with conviction and restraint. There’s a weathered quality to his voice that suits the subject matter perfectly, reinforcing the sense that these words come from experience rather than imagination. He understands when to lean into a line and when to let it breathe, trusting the listener to meet him halfway.
What makes Again And Again stand out is its emotional intelligence. Stoll’s stated philosophy — that listeners don’t want to hear his story, but their own reflected back at them — is fully realized here. The song doesn’t tell you what to feel; it recognizes what you’ve already felt. That empathy is the track’s greatest strength. Even with the use of modern tools and AI-assisted technology, the humanity of the song never wavers. Again And Again proves that authenticity isn’t about how music is made, but who is making it. In The Rising Shine Project, Henry Stoll reminds us that when an artist has something real to say, the medium becomes secondary to the message.
