Here at the Send Me Your Ears studio today, we’ve been listening to the latest single from Harry Kappen. Netherlands-based Kappen released The Freedom Inside on 2nd March 2023.
The Freedom Inside is a gentle reminder for people to start a positive change from
within themselves, which will ultimately impact the world. In Kappen’s words; “We all know we live in troubling times with war, climate change, indifference, etc. There’s a lot of complaining everywhere, and declining trust in governments. If you want to change the world, stop nagging and whining at others and start to change yourself first and search for the freedom inside you to do so!” We love this song’s positive and upbeat message and thoroughly enjoyed it washing over us this morning.
The Freedom Inside has a gentle folk-rock feel to it. Starting with a very simple train drumming pattern, the build is almost imperceptible until you realise at the end that the drums have got busier and busier throughout the song. We absolutely loved the well-crafted and unexpected chord progressions in this song. It may have a gentle folk-rock feel to it, but it has been well-considered and created to ensure a wonderful listening experience.
The song builds gently and slowly. As with the gentle progression on drums, more and more instrumentation is added as the song goes on, and by the end, the listener is treated to a flourishing orchestral section with euphoric strings and an anthemic feel.
We enjoyed the additional vocals that come in in the choruses, and we particularly liked how the extra vocal lines were bolstered by a lead strings line. Returning frequently to the chorus, The Freedom Inside gives the listener plenty of opportunity to sing along and get behind the message and catchy chorus.
This is such a positive-feeling song with a real Joe Walsh feel. The guitar solo over the emotional strings section is a real highlight, and the incidental guitar moments had definite touches of Brian May.
Ending on gentle picked guitar and strings, the song turns full circle and leads the listener gently out.
Ideas from our ears
A few small EQ cuts in the 400-700Hz range would reduce some ‘honky’ tones and a larger high shelf boost set around 7-8kHz would increase the brightness and presence overall. As always, these are just some ideas from our ears.
Final thoughts
Harry Kappen’s, The Freedom Inside, is a relaxing and positive folk-rock song which we thoroughly enjoyed. The catchy chorus makes this track highly likely to perform well, and a definite winner at a live show. We’re looking forward to hearing what Kappen does next!
http://harrykappen.hearnow.com/
https://twitter.com/HarryKappen
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vLYBW53d9YsqCRSPY5XQB?si=37b538520a3c46f5
https://youtu.be/igBuPdnJu0g