Track Listing

1. Come On, Come Out
2. The Minnow & The Trout
3. Whisper
4. You Picked Me
5. Rangers
6. Almost Lover
7. Think of You
8. Ashes and Wine
9. Liar, Liar
10. Last of Days
11. Lifesize
12. Near To You
13. Hope for the Hopeless
14. Borrowed Time

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #784 in Music
• Released on: 2007-07-17
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com

A Fine Frenzy Photos

Amazon.com
A Fine Frenzy is actually just a fine young singer-songwriter from Seattle, born Alison Sudol. A self-taught piano player, on her debut album she pairs sweeping orchestral arrangements with dreamlike lyrics inspired by the classic works of fantasy writers like CS Lewis, EB White, and Lewis Carroll. Add to that a propensity for frilly shirts and cryptic song titles such as "The Minnow & the Trout" and you half-expect to find a back alley Joanna Newsom. Instead Sudol specializes in accessible pop epics, the kind of songs that fit perfectly over the end credits of a great Hollywood tearjerker. Despite the gentle melancholia that runs through "Ashes and Wine" and "You Picked Me," each tune arrives wrapped in an exuberant melody and topped by the singer's commanding voice. On the disc's standout moment, "Almost Lover," she shows she can do simplicity as well, musing over a sublime piano medley, "Shoulda known you'd bring me heartache/ Oh, most lovers always do." --Aidin Vaziri

About the Artist
A Fine Frenzy is the music of 21 year-old Alison Sudol.

Born in Seattle to dramatic-arts teacher parents, Alison moved to Los Angeles at the age five. With her newly single mother, Alison moved frequently around the city. She developed a strong love for the fantastic literary worlds of CS Lewis, EB White, Lewis Carroll and Charles Dickens, while becoming a passionate author in her own right.

Alison also immersed herself in classical music, Motown, Aretha Franklin, swing bands, Ella Fitzgerald, Elton John, Louis Armstrong, the Beatles, Technicolor movies and classic 1950's television.

After teaching herself to play piano, Alison increasingly invested her internal narratives into song form. She found solace in the melodic melancholia of new global British bands Aqualung, Radiohead, Coldplay and Keane, etc... She was also moved by the diatonic minimalism of Philip Glass and the transportive allure of Icelandic music (Bjork, Sigur Ros.) Inspired, Alison developed the sound of A Fine Frenzy - hypnotic piano arrangements under classic American melody fused into irresistible, atmospheric songs with the power to reach around the world.

Customer Reviews

One Cell in the Sea: A sonorous journey
Lately we've been greeted with a king's court full of singer/songwriters. I don't review their music too often and when I do, I can only draft a few terse sentences. For my part, I find many of them to be musicians, not artists. Musicians merely recite their compositions and, after a few repeat plays, I'm left hollow, finding little of themselves, their vulnerability, in the work. The artists, however, paint, weave, and sculpt with music, and you know what dangerous creatures they can be, cleverly lacing the notes with their aspirations, their fears, their essence. You can sense it in their voice, every syllable of the lyrics as they slip into you.

Such is the case with A Fine Frenzy. When I heard their album, One Cell in the Sea, I was struck by its dimensionality. With her vocal and writing talents, singer/songwriter Alison Sudol folds our hand into hers and guides us through her mysterious wonderland, conjuring picturesque landscapes with "Come On, Come Out", the excellent "Rangers", "You Picked Me" and "The Minnow and the Trout" and ensnaring us in sumptuous wine-dark woodlands with her intimate offerings "Almost Lover", "Hope for the Hopeless", "Near to You" and "Ashes and Wine".

By the time the final track, "Borrowed Time", concluded, I found myself in a well of thoughts and emotions, albeit delightedly so. Sudol has not only crafted an outstanding and bravely personal album, but a magical world I look forward to visiting time and again.

A Stoke of Amazon Luck
I can't remember what prompted me to order ths album. I had never heard of A Fine Frenzy or Alison Sudol, but something in the Amazon marketing machine suggested it to me-- whether it was recommended or a "deal" if I bought two, I don't know. I am sure a listened to the 30 sec. teasers, and gave it a shot.

I think Alison Sudol may have the loveliest voice I have heard since Sarah McLachlan and/or Eva Cassidy. That is a major concession from me. I am a lyrics lover to the core, and so far I am impressed. Maybe I am easy, but you will have to decide for yourself.

Gets Its Hooks Into You
I've always felt that the ability to write gorgeous songs with memorable hooks is a vastly underrated skill in the contemporary music world. It seems there is a premium placed on music that's bombastic, atonal, ironic, or in some way "inaccessible" to the masses. If most people can't hum it, that means it's authentic - at least that's the impression you get from reading most music criticism these days. Alison Sudol (aka A Fine Frenzy) has the gift of writing songs that hook you almost immediately with their soaring melodies, and her thoughtful lyrics belie her relatively young age. She may not yet be at the level of a Fiona Apple or Tori Amos when it comes to soul-baring confessionals, but for someone who's self-taught on the piano she is truly a remarkable talent. "One Cell in the Sea" is an impressive debut in many respects, and it's one of those records that gets under your skin the more you listen to it. You can clearly hear the influence of bands like Keane and Coldplay in spots, and at times her voice reminds me of Harriet Wheeler of the long-lost Sundays. If you're not one of those people who's allergic to beautiful, shimmering pop music (you know who you are, White Stripers) you should definitely check out A Fine Frenzy.