Loud, and very close to home? Not initially (5)
I believe the answer is:
vocal
'loud' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'very close to home? not initially' is the wordplay.
'very' becomes 'v' (abbreviation).
'close to home?' becomes 'local'.
'not initially' means to remove the first letter.
'local' with its initial letter taken off is 'ocal'.
'v'+'ocal'='VOCAL'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for vocal that I've seen before include "Articulate" , "speaking loudly" , "To do with the voice, say cords" , "Relating to the human voice" , "not instrumental" .)