The Olympic Symphonium
More in Sorrow Than in Anger
Forward Music
The band name and guest list—Jenn Grant, Rose Cousins, Rich Aucoin, Dale Murray and Kinley Dowling—signal a large and orchestral sound. But this album offers only rare moments of that. Principal members Nick Cobham, Kyle Cunjak and Graeme Walker, a trio sounding like The Brothers Creeggan, emphasize romantic late-night acoustic ballads. Guests deliver vocal harmonies or instrumental parts to maintain the mood: a study in romanticism and melancholia brought on by a longing for the fix for a relationship breakdown or worry for friends in distress. A few songs feel a bit earnest, but mostly this is a lovely album.
Sean Flinn
categories: Local artist
This article appears in Dec 11-17, 2008.