Customer Reviews
Tedious overwrought nullity - By: A. Smith, 20 Aug 2008 
This reminded me of the risks of buying stuff on the strength of five-star frenzies. Meandering melodies, meaningless lyrics, the whole effort smugly convinced of its own worth as a sort of Keane or Coldplay tribute. There is not a memorable song or even momentin this sleepwalk of flip-side filler.
Wow - By: SweetViolet, 17 Aug 2008 
I was recommended A Fine Frenzy a while ago, & when I heard "Almost Lover", I was absolutely blown away. Just stunning...her voice & lyrics are absolutely beautiful. Yes she's going to get Tori Amos comparisons all over because she's a redhead that plays the piano, but although I love Tori, that's not fair; she's an artistin her own right, & I actually think her songs are nothing like Tori's. A lot of the album is about disappointmentin love, & there there are hearbreaking songs such as "Almost Lover" (simply the best song I've heardin a long time, & one of the best-break up tracks ever written), about someone that was never quite officially your lover but led you on dramatically, which makes the heartache even worse when things end, as you don't even have the chance to say you'd been together properly - it's hard not to feel the pain when she sings 'I'd never want to see you unhappy / I thought you'd want the same for me...' & 'I cannot go to the ocean / I cannot drive the streets at night / I cannot wake upin the morning / Without you on my mind.' Who hasn't been there? Then there's "Ashes & Wine", about being on the receiving end of a break-up (feauturing the beautiful lyrics 'I'll drownin my tear-storming sea / That would show you, that would make you hurt like me') & having to let go but not quite wanting to; 'Is there a chance you may change your mind?' And then there's "Near To You", another stand-out track, about trying to move on but not quite being able to. The opening lines are just stunning, & hit you right there: 'He & I had something beautiful, but so dysfunctional it couldn't last / I loved him so, but I let him go, 'cause I knew he'd never love me back / Such pain as this shouldn't have to be experienced / I'm still reeling from the loss, still a little bit delirious.' Beautiful song... But where there are the quiet, heartbreaking songs, there are also catchy, positive songs, too; for example "You Picked Me", a pretty, sweet, & upbeat tune, & "Hope For The Hopeless" (the title says it all) & I also am a big fan of "The Minnow & The Trout" (the album title is taken from one of the lyrics) & "Think of You." Basically, she's one of the best singer-songwriters to emergein recent times, especially for one so young. She has a beautiful voice, powerful lyrics, & for a debut album this is simply amazing. Buy it.
'I Talk to the Trees' - By: Paul Ess., 02 Aug 2008 
There seems to be a surfeit of these earnest female singer-songwriters out therein the flux & fluctuating pop arena. Most are quite bad, but sifting through the rubble left on the battlefield, you can occasionally rescue small gems like A Fine Frenzy, hidingin potholes after the big guns (and we all know who they are!) have long finished discharging their infertile loads.
'One Cellin the Sea' is a tiny, slightly miraculous pop album. I'm sure supporters of Vanessa Carlton, Kate Nash & Colbie Callait et al can instantly tell their heroines apart & could fervently point to the varying merits of each, but for yours truly it needs something grabbing & different to raise the heckles & 'OCITS' has that special something.
'That special something' isn't anything mystical or other-worldly, it's simply well thought out words & ideas, presented straight & truein satisfyingly low-key but busy treatments. Nothing revolutionary or incendiary here pop-kids.
A Fine Frenzy (aka Alison Sudol) is a tiny, waif-like presence with a killer linein powerful melody & thoughtful wordplay. She's mainly piano-driven with layers of strings & acoustic guitar, & she's just dropped lucky - it all comes together for her (and fortunately - for us!). Even the lyric booklet is good. It's hippy woodland nonsense to a degree, with various colourful etchings of song-birds, (the only instance of vanity Ms. A Fine Frenzy indulges in) butin it's one-trip dream & romance world view, it finds this particular easily distracted commentatorin sympathetic mode. It's merely an extension of 'OCITS's earthy lush-pop. A symbolic branch of it's mini-engine of creativity & mission. Unsurprisingly, she's a quietly understated & beautifully stylish lady. She reminds very much of Madeline Smith, the fetching 70's Hammer actress, particularlyin one gorgeous shot, where she's wearing a long, pleated, blood-crimson dress & is looking worriedly over her shoulder, as if the forest around her has just come alive, & is stealthily revealing it's sinister intentions.....
High points? Many, but the 'You Picked Me'/'Rangers'/'Almost Lover' triumvirate about a quarterin take some stopping. Deft & moving scopes of sound & thought, 'Last of Days' is suitably haunting, & the exceptional 'Lifestyle',the nearest thing we get to a 'rock' song, even has a "Yeaahh!" at one stage. Woah girl, deep breaths.
The album's not perfect. (although Alison probably is..) It goes on too long, there's a slight lack of diversity as it turns the last bend, & it sounds a bit one paced after repeated listens, but nothing that affects the effect of the many essentials. AFF will iron this out for her next album, importantly making sure she leavesin all the sleights & subtleties that make 'OCITS' one of the best of it's kind.
At the moment she's (deservedly) head & shoulders above the opposition, we'll wait see if she finishes there....
Amazing - By: bobfish, 16 May 2008 This is wonderful- has not been off my MP3 player. Cant wait til she tours
She is gorgeous too- which always helps. But dont let that deflect you
This girl can really sing & there is real sadness & emotionin the likes of ALWAYS LOVERS & NEAR TO YOU- which is just about the most perfect SAD ballad' Sometimes this sounds like the Sundays -MINNOW AND THE TROUT- only with Pianos, instead of janglY guitars- HOWEVER, thta is no bad thing & she is as good as Harriet Wheeler & may have more range.The lyrics are interesting too & not the usual fare- THE MINNOW & YOU PICKED ME appear to be of the same stable- i love 'the apple on the tree' & 'the shellfish on the sea' couplings & the fact that the minnow is to be foundin the trouts mouth?!!
LIFESIZE is good pop too, so she could crack it here, tho I kind of hope she does not really- cos she is way too cool for the masses
THIS IS JUST A WONDERFUL release- last of days is pure class too! And it all stands up well, on a par with the likes of feist, cat power & all the real talented songbirds of our generation!
A stunning album - By: Ferdinand von Prondzynski, 24 Apr 2008 There is a tendency right now to suggest that we have too many singer songwriters. I'm never quite sure why one would think that, butin any case the argument is shot right out of the water by Alison Sudol & her band, A Fine Frenzy. Basedin Los Angeles, but frequent visitors to Europe, the band manages to weave together a number of musical & literary interests & turn these into songs that are quite simply stunning.
Alison Sudol is an artist - notin the often rather over-worked use of that word, butin a very real sense. She is a poet who manages to capture emotions, fears, regrets & desires (and sometimes just quirky insights); & she is a composer who uses both classical & modern influences to shape sometimes haunting, sometimes reassuring, sometimes challenging tunes. When you listen to her, you may find yourself hearing the raw emotion or the poetic insight even before your ears have processed the sound.
A good place to start is with her first song, Almost Lover - her debut single pretty well everywhere except (for some reason)in the UK. It is a haunting song about seduction & betrayal, describing more perfectly than I have ever heard before the natural incomprehension that can be felt by any abandoned person - & with the quite brilliant summing up: 'So you're gone & I'm haunted, & I bet you're just fine'.
But all her songs are classics-in-waiting, with the extraordinary capacity to engage & satisfy without becoming boring or repetitive, even when heard many times. She has been described as 'quirky', & you can get a sense of thatin what she sometimes describes as her 'song about fish', The Minnow & the Trout (which contains the words of the album title, & whichin fact has a strong message); orin the metaphors usedin the punchy Rangers.
Maybe that is something that defines her talent & style - her ability to use metaphors without it becoming opaque or inaccessible - a genuine poet for our times & for everyone.
One Cellin the Sea is my favourite album for this decade - a debut work which is brilliant, poetic, artistic & musical. If there is any justice, A Fine Frenzy will be a household name before very long all over the world.
