Harry Kappen’s “The Longing” opens FOUR with an issue older than Plato: the pinnacle says cease, the guts says go. And for 3 and a half minutes, he tries to reconcile each. This isn’t a singer-songwriter quietly musing in his journal, although. Kappen’s been a rock guitarist in Groningen and it reveals—he builds the tune as a dynamic push-pull, acoustic guitar whispering till electrical riffs barge in and remind you this can be a battle.
As lyrics go, subtlety isn’t the purpose. “Typically my mind’s on hearth / Practicalities, Analyses, Rationality” isn’t poetry a lot as a manifesto, the bluntness a advantage. Kappen’s trick is matching the phrases with music that dramatizes them. The smooth sections aren’t background—they’re moments the place the pinnacle takes the mic. Then the rock crescendos are available, vocals layered polyphonically, guitars swelling, and the guts makes its argument.
What retains this from being simply one other confessional ballad-turned-anthem is the dedication to contrasts. He doesn’t merely change between quiet and loud; he pits orchestration in opposition to uncooked guitar, introspection in opposition to explosion, till you’re feeling the interior dialogue occurring in actual time. When he lets a guitar solo soar throughout the midpoint, it’s much less about virtuosity than about longing itself turning into audible, stretching out, unresolved.
Kappen’s influences—Bowie, Lennon, Zeppelin, Alanis—are all in there, however by no means as pastiche. As a substitute, they’re reference factors he’s absorbed into his palette. You hear Bowie within the theatrical dynamics, Lennon within the earnest lyrical bluntness, Zeppelin within the guitar heft, Alanis within the emotional directness. That mix provides “The Longing” a familiarity that doesn’t collapse into imitation.
Is it good? No. However that’s additionally the appeal: Kappen doesn’t hedge. He’s not writing in metaphorical riddles. He’s telling you what’s inside his head—and coronary heart—and making the conflict ring out loud sufficient to rattle.
In the long run, what you’re left with isn’t a neat decision however a sonic illustration of battle itself. That’s why the lyric video’s imagery of flying by means of clouds suits—there’s turbulence, there’s magnificence, and there’s no strong floor. For Kappen, the guts wins with out the pinnacle shedding fully. For listeners, the win is a observe that dramatizes what most of us stay on daily basis: wanting one factor, considering one other, and making music of the stress.
Grade: A-
–Bobby Christman
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