Alison Sudol, the songwriter singer and self-taught pianist of A Fine Frenzy, has a lot to go for. She is young and beautiful and her indie music style is genuine, personal, and is indeed a breath of fresh air in today’s commercial music scene. It is rare to find an artist who sounds as good in demos with just the vocal track and the piano too. Alison Sudol’s style reminds me of Jewel’s debut “Pieces of Me” though “One Cell in the Sea” is a more polished and well produced version but with similar singing style and the same melancholic feel as Jewel’s “Pieces of Me”.
Being influenced by famous writers such as CS Lewis, EB White, Lewis Carroll and Charles Dickens from young, it is no doubt that there is a poetic quality to her lyrics. And her interest in classical music and some of the classic bands and singers exist before her time could possibly explain the maturity level she has in “One Cell in the Sea”. For those who enjoy listening to the detail recording of the vocal track such as the breathing of a singer, this album may delight you. Alison Sudol does have decent control to her voice from the whispering verse to the soaring chorus, from an emotional loudness to a fine falsetto that floats the audience in the thin air of anticipation for the next bit to come.
I do find the band compliments Alison Sudol’s vocal and piano tracks well, which is nice because it takes much creativity to make the overall melancholic set of songs to sound sufficiently different and interesting to listen to. My personal favorite tracks are “Almost Lover”, “Near to You”, and “Borrowed Time” and mind you, it may take you more than a quick scan and a few listen to appreciate her music. Quite a few times, I find the gems of the songs hidden towards the end in forms of an unusual bridge or a variation of melody.
If you do own “One Cell in the Sea”, don’t miss the bonus materials offered in her official site. All you need to do is to insert your audio CD into your computer to activate the download process. Bonus materials include 5 demo songs and 5 exclusive videos. Below is one of her singles and my favorite track “Almost Lover”. It is hard not to fall in love with this song, trust me.
PS. Some fans observed that the stage name “A Fine Frenzy” is derived from one of Shakespeare’s works. As for the album name, it comes from the song “The Minnow & The Trout”. The extract of the lyrics as follows:
please, I know that we’re different
but we were one cell in the sea in the beginning
and what we’re made of was all the same once
we’re not that different after all