Harry Kappen’s “The Longing” opens FOUR with an issue older than Plato: the top says cease, the center 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 exhibits—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. “Generally 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 tender sections aren’t background—they’re moments the place the top takes the mic. Then the rock crescendos are available, vocals layered polyphonically, guitars swelling, and the center 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 towards uncooked guitar, introspection towards explosion, till you’re feeling the inner dialogue taking place 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 excellent? No. However that’s additionally the allure: 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.
Ultimately, 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 clouds suits—there’s turbulence, there’s magnificence, and there’s no stable floor. For Kappen, the center wins with out the top shedding totally. For listeners, the win is a monitor that dramatizes what most of us stay every single day: wanting one factor, pondering one other, and making music of the strain.
Grade: A-
–Bobby Christman
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