Put your good headphones on. Get your car stereo ready. Drink a warm cup of tea and prepare to shout.
A good, get-totally-lost-in-yourself, hearty rock song is tough to come by, but if you’re in the market for one, you need to listen to Damien McFly’s “Leap”.
Not quite retro nor super-modern, the song builds upon the musical conventions that traditional rock bands have put in place but is expressed in a way that sounds totally unique to Damien McFly, an Italian singer whose personality shines through every line. It’s original without being radical.
“Leap” brings back the heaviness of early 2000s rock.
Think Linkin Park and Kings of Leon. The song is one of those powerhouses that demands to be blasted as loud as you can possibly handle.
Each verse gives you just enough of a break to get ready for head-banging and screaming by the time the next chorus comes around. The quieter periods build anticipation, as soft yet energetic drum beats can be heard pounding throughout, getting you ready.
The addition of an electric cello providing that anxious, action-movie suspense gives the track even more momentum. What can I say, the song gets you going. It’s powerful.
So powerful that it would be easy for another singer to be overpowered by the loud accompaniment. But Damian McFly’s raspy, deep belt is the song’s most crucial instrument. “Leap” is thoughtfully written around his voice, showcasing his impressive range in its most tender and exciting moments.
The singer commands the track.
That’s not easy to do. The lyrics of “Leap” are so poetic, so big and declamatory that they require the exact kind of mass McFly’s vocals bring when he sings the chorus
“How can I deceive your eyes
to anticipate the pain
with a leap of faith”
The words are vague but meaningful. The song takes on a broad approach to expressing emotion. I can’t tell the story or chain of events that inspired Damien McFly (or, by his Italian name, Damiano Ferrari) to write the song, but I can experience the sadness, frustration, and desperation he sings of all the same.
“How can I step on your nerves
to get what you deserve
You’re not alone”
The song relies more on McFly’s aural delivery to get its point across, and he delivers. He opens the track with the words
“They say you got to the edge of your rituals
No more rain for that dry earth”
A bold way to introduce a song – listeners have to keep listening. Trying to figure out who the song is about, and who in their own lives they can relate it to. “Leap” is mysterious, and it never fully unravels, but every time McFly belts out “with a leap of faith,” you can grasp the story on a physically emotional level.
That kind of openness is perhaps its greatest strength. It can mean something different to many different types of people.
There’s a lot going on at every moment in the song. The guitars and drums are busy, making the entire track feel full and explosive up until its abrupt ending, which echoes the song’s central theme nicely. We’ve finally taken that “leap of faith,” as the sound cuts off quickly with only a few seconds to ring out.
Even in its moments of simplicity, every instrument on the track is rich. The emotion of the song comes so much from its instrumentation and quality of musicianship. The pop-infused melody helps to give the song some breathing room.
You almost have to take a deep breath after listening to it and readjust to stability.
“Leap” is a song is crafted in such a way that one can’t help but feel impacted by it.
