- Bryon Harris
Kala Farnham - 'Happy for You'
In “the quiet corner” of Connecticut, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist named Kala Farnham is getting a lot of recognition for her unique, classically inspired contemporary folk music. Kala was the 2017 winner of the Rhode Island Songwriters Association Performing Songwriter Contest. Her albums ‘Anahata: Wake Up Your Heart’ and ‘Samadhi: Home Is Where You Are’ were nominated for Best Americana Album in RI's Motif Music Awards. They also nominated her for "Best Female Americana Vocalist.” Keeping the momentum going, Kala's new single and music video titled “Happy for You” is equally noteworthy. Written by Kala, the song is performed along with Dominick Lucenti and Zach Bond.
“Happy for You” starts off with steady-punchy piano chords on the down beat creating a nice indie-folk-pop bounce. A strong walking bass line with drum hits separate the verses. The mood is upbeat and confident. There’s a lot of fusion in this song from classical to pop and rock to folk. Kala is not an artist concerned with boxes, walls or labels; she brilliantly puts genres into a melting pot and makes your ears forget their preferences because it sounds too good to pass up. This arrangement could have easily been composed for a group like the Beatles - tight, well-conceived and imaginative. Kala enters singing, “Brother, why you got to be so bitter? I was the ugly in the litter, now I'm finding my face.” Kala’s crystal clear vocal tone has a sweetness that draws you in and in this song, you can really hear her conviction. As I listen to the recording, I can almost imagine her sitting at the piano performing live. It has that kind of feel. Moving into the chorus, the music breaks into a nice lyrical flow. “Why can't you be happy for you, happy for me? I fought the hard fight, I gave the sacrifice. Why can't you be happy for you, happy for me? No I'm not perfect, but I'm doing what I do I'm doing me.” The melodic content has some nice turns to keep things engaging. Kala is never predictable.
“Happy for You” is about reciprocity. Often, when a person find’s their creative voice, it may not be the voice that others were accustomed to or expecting of us. Kala paints this conflict by giving us small snippets of what it feels like to work hard to be your authentic self then be put in a position to defend it. “I fought the hard fight, I gave the sacrifice. Why can't you be happy for you, happy for me?”
At this stage, we are led into song’s bridge by a lovely guitar solo that takes your hand and brings you to a full string arrangement. Here, Kala takes the song from a place of one person finding her true voice to a universal story of all young girls who have struggled to be heard and understood. “This is the story for a little girl that could. All the world said that she couldn't, but they misunderstood.” The song ends not by asking for acceptance or defending who you are, but by declaring full acceptance of self. “So just be happy for your own sake, doesn’t matter what they say.”
Please take a moment to watch this eye-catching video animation of “Happy for You” which was edited by Zach Andersen. This video is the perfect choice for a song that is highly relevant for all ages.
In “Happy for You”, Kala Farnham shows that she is an ever-growing, ever-engaging, and ever-imaginative artist who continuously stretches the boundaries of genre with honesty, musical grace, and superb song-writing skills and by doing so, she gives us songs that start as a change inside of her, but change us too - And this is what great music is all about.
For more information on Kala Farnham, please visit her website.