The Olympic Symphonium: The City Won’t Have Time to Fight

Everyone knows music can help us weather the harshest of emotions. But if The Olympic Symphonium teaches us anything with The City Won’t Have Time to Fight, it’s that music can indeed provide comfort from the harshest of weather. As one of the most trying winters in recent memory sweeps through North America, this five-piece out of Fredericton, New Brunswick creates a warm and comforting language that is best translated late at night while Mother Nature wreaks havoc outside.

It’s a rickety, bare-bones listen, complete with coughs heard amidst floating, evocative chamber-folk melodies. “Cold and Blue” stretches with a delicate sway, while “History” proliferates the congenial, acoustic-heavy vibe that’s littered throughout the record.

This is not mood music, however. The City Won’t Have Time to Fight is the kind of record that will not only keep you warm but provide some hope through those tough times that seem impossible to escape. It’s an engaging listen. Here’s hoping that it won’t be (shamefully) overlooked in 2011.