Right...so we've all heard Almost Lover, right? I'm assuming you liked that song, if not loved it to death as I did, but i've got news for you...it's not her best. I'm totally blown away by this album. AFF is a lyrical genius. I'll admit her stuff can be wuite depressing, but it is so real and moving...that it may bring you to tears. Seriously. Think of You, Ashes and Wine, Last of Days and Near To You are sure to make your eyes swell. Then Lifesize, Minnow and the Trout, Rangers and You Picked Me are happier and mostly easy listening. I recommend this to the highest regard.

A Fine Frenzy is fronted by singer/songwriter Alison Sudol. The perfect words to describe her music is beautiful and hypnotic. The piano harmonies and her voice seem to fit together perfectly into emotional and peaceful sounding music. I love listening to her music if I've had a bad day at work or school, or if I just need something comforting to listen to. I'd recommend her to any music lover. Her music is absolutely amazing. I can't wait for her next album and I'll definitely be buying it. Favorites include You Picked Me, Rangers, Almost Lover, and Come On, Come Out.

... and just what I needed.

Growing increasingly tired of the new music that countless bands put out, I was dying to hear something new. And beautiful.

This is it. The most beautiful piano ballads I've ever heard... it's surprising that such beautiful piano ballads can exist after Coldplay already garnered rights over the simplest & most incredible piano chord progressions in existence.

The songs are stunning. You'll find something to identify with in the lyrics of any of these melodies. The intimacy of her voice makes the experience that much more 'close to home', after you already find yourself identifying with the heartfelt words that she imbues with such character with her exquisite voice & lips.

I was lucky enough to hear her live at a small venue in Seattle, from up close. She tears up at her own tunes & lyrics... if that is not heartfelt music, I don't know what is.

Give it a try... close your eyes... enjoy the beauties that life has to offer.

P.S. When's the last time you absolutely loved 10/14 songs on an album?

Alison Sudol, a.k.a A Fine Frenzy, has created a very nice debut CD in One Cell In The Sea. While Sudol's lyrics, vocals, and piano playing are the centerpieces of the CD, they do not account for the entire story. This CD packs a fair amount of variety although some of it is subtle.

Lyrically, you will find familiar topics while Sudol also takes the road less traveled in some cases. This is most clearly evident on "The Minnow & The Trout" where Sudol makes a plea for people to put their differences aside using a metaphor of animals based on evolution. This is where the "one cell in the sea" reference comes in. However, there are also the typical songs of love and loss such as "Almost Lover" and "Ashes and Wine". Overall, One Cell In The Sea has a balance of concrete and abstract lyrics.

Vocally, Sudol is very strong as a pure singer. Her voice is very full even in the higher register as displayed on "The Minnow & The Trout" and "Whisper". I also thought that she gave good variety in her delivery. "You Picked Me" and "Rangers" have a more rhythmic pace on the chorus whereas "Ashes and Wine" is more straight ahead. She also uses dynamics well conveying earnestness on "Almost Lover" while using a much lower volume on the invitatory "Come On, Come Out". Among all of these variations, though, none of the songs lose continuity.

Instrumentally, One Cell In The Sea offers a fair amount of variety. "Come On, Come Out" and "The Minnow & The Trout" center on Sudol's piano playing while "Whisper" and "Ashes and Wine" make great use of strings. The strings on "Ashes and Wine" especially help create the melancholy mood for the song. "Borrowed Time" is an interesting piece as it has much more of a folk sound to it with the acoustic guitar. You will even find some electronics and synthesizers that work to varying degrees. While it works well on "Think of You", it winds up just being annoying on "Last of Days".

Overall, One Cell In The Sea is a solid debut effort for A Fine Frenzy. There is a lot of variety, but it is not always obvious. Two songs may sound similar, but the lyrics may have very different messages (see "Come On, Come Out" and "The Minnow & The Trout"). Other times the subject of the song might be the same, but the style is different (see "Almost Lover" and "Ashes and Wine"). It will be interesting to see on future releases if Alison Sudol keeps this level of variety, or if she gravitates toward one of the specific styles that she uses here. I think that "Borrowed Time" shows that she has very strong potential in the folk genre, and I would like to hear more songs from her along these lines.

Download this: "Borrowed Time"

One Cell In the Sea is probably my favorite album released in the last two years. For a guy who buys hundreds of CDs a year and listens to every genre under the sun, that's saying something. Every track on the album is incredible. This is probably the best debut album since Third Eye Blind's debut masterpiece.

Even though I loved the album from the start, some of the songs didn't hit me at first. I was not a big fan of "You Picked Me," because starting your song off with "One, Two, Three" just isn't the way to win me over. Still, this song has grown on me too. I can forgive the counting off.

Alison's voice is amazing, and unlike a lot of the pseudo piano player musicians of today she can actually play. But most importantly, this is just well written music in every way, lyrics and accompaniment. If you haven't checked this out yet, you owe it to yourself. I can't wait for the next album.

I hope you give this album a try.

Enjoy!

I love this CD. Her voice is awesome. Soothing after a stressful day. Nice to listen to while you drink evening tea. Kind of sweeps you away to a simpler time and place of honesty, if you let it. rp

It has been a long time since I bought an album and loved every song. She is one talented young woman, both in voice and songwriting.

There seems to be a surfeit of these earnest female singer-songwriters out there in the flux and 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, hiding in potholes after the big guns (and we all know who they are!) have long finished discharging their infertile loads.
'One Cell in the Sea' is a tiny, slightly miraculous pop album. I'm sure supporters of Vanessa Carlton, Kate Nash and Colbie Callait et al can instantly tell their heroines apart and could fervently point to the varying merits of each, but for yours truly it needs something grabbing and different to raise the heckles and 'OCITS' has that special something.
'That special something' isn't anything mystical or other-worldly, it's simply well thought out words and ideas, presented straight and true in 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 line in powerful melody and thoughtful wordplay. She's mainly piano-driven with layers of strings and acoustic guitar, and 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) but in it's one-trip dream and romance world view, it finds this particular easily distracted commentator in sympathetic mode. It's merely an extension of 'OCITS's earthy lush-pop. A symbolic branch of it's mini-engine of creativity and mission.
Unsurprisingly, she's a quietly understated and beautifully stylish lady. She reminds very much of Madeline Smith, the fetching 70's Hammer actress, particularly in one gorgeous shot, where she's wearing a long, pleated, blood-crimson dress and is looking worriedly over her shoulder, as if the forest around her has just come alive, and is stealthily revealing it's sinister intentions.....
High points? Many, but the 'You Picked Me'/'Rangers'/'Almost Lover' triumvirate about a quarter in take some stopping. Deft and moving scopes of sound and thought, 'Last of Days' is suitably haunting, and 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, and 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 leaves in all the sleights and subtleties that make 'OCITS' one of the best of it's kind.
At the moment she's (deservedly) head and shoulders above the opposition, we'll wait see if she finishes there....

...got a bit suprise at first, but fall's in to bore in the few last songs!Alison Sudol's did make some good songs in the first few track, maybe a little bit more effort on her next record.

i had never heard of this group but took an amazon recomendation and ordered it..it has been in my car cd player ..on my zune and on my computer so i have a copy wherever i happen to be..i love every song on it and hope there is a new one soon, then i happened to see her on csi or criminal minds and found out she can act too...love the lyrics...love everything about this cd..thanks for the recommendation amazon

A Fine Frenzy broke on the music scene just recently; indeed this is her debut album that came out on 7/17/2007. Well, it is easy to see what all of the hubbub is about! This young lady has an excellent singing voice that really gives her songs a haunting, soulful sound. The music is excellent with piano and other instruments. And as for the songs - pure poetry!

OK, do you think I am going too far? Well, it's true, this is excellent music. Ever since I got the album I have listened to it over and over again - in my car, and at work. Yep, I like it that much.

My favorite songs are The Minnow & The Trout, Liar, Liar, and Almost Lover. But, I love them all. I think that this is a great album, and I really believe that A Fine Frenzy has a great career ahead of her. I look forward to her next album, and I highly recommend this one!

I really love this album. Allison has a great voice and the lyrics are whimsical yet deep. The orchestral sound adds such a haunting quality to the music.

I can't get Almost Lover out of my head, and the images that The Minnow and The Trout invokes is so fantastical.

Absolutely, hauntingly, beautiful. Alison somehow finds a way to merge thought-provoking, totally relatable lyrics with melodies that are out of this world. There's a number of more melancholic songs on the album, but they're balanced out nicely with a few sweeping, spirit-lifting offerings like "You Picked Me", "Come On, Come Out", "Rangers", and so on. A song for every mood. In conclusion, this is a stunning, hypnotic record, and completely worth the price (and it's quite a bargain on here).

This is simply one of the best talents Ive come across in a while...excellent voice, lyrics and music. I wish artists like this had more of a platform than all the mainstream shallow, talentless stuff has...if youre reading this then you know what I'm talking about. Definately give her album a shot if youre undecided.

It seems like nowadays when an artist is featured on the VH1 You Oughta Know tour, they eventually turn into the next big thing (ask James Blunt or Sara Bareilles). But one person that didn't really garner any more popularity is Alison Sudol, better known as A Fine Frenzy -- which is also ironic considering her and Sara's respective albums were released on the same day. And Alison's lack of popularity is unfortunate because her album One Cell in the Sea is damn good.

Alison seems to score best with heartbreak tracks, as shown by "Ashes and Wine" and especially the single "Almost Lover". But introspective tracks score as well, like "Whisper", "The Minnow & the Trout" (the song that inspired the album's title) and the metaphoric "Rangers". And "Borrowed Time" closes the album nicely.

Although half a star had to be taken off for "Liar, Liar", One Cell in the Sea proves that Alison deserves a lot more attention than she gets because this musical experience is indeed a fine frenzy. It's not too late to pick it up.

Anthony Rupert

This is an absolute favorite CD of mine due to its esoteric and captivating melodies, not to mention A Fine Frenzy's vocal talent. The lyrics are beautiful, poetic in their own ways but never to confuse them with convoluted passages. This album and her talent molded well together. I absolutely loved her voice and her music. It's quite a masterpiece in its own respect that I highly recommend it to anyone especially to the dreamer, the poet or the hopeless romantic.

Don't let my three star review fool you, I love this CD. I can listen to it all the way through and only skip one or two songs (quite an accomplishment for me). The lyrics are sweet and poetic; her voice is soft and sultry with a very pretty female falsetto. Unfortunately, she doesn't convince me. She has the vocal capability to reach a level of depth and passion that I just didn't find in this CD. She comes close in Ashes in Wine, one of my favorite tracks. Almost Lover is appropriately sad and (like many, I'm sure) the reason I bought the ablum, The Minnow and the Trout is an awkward but enjoyable stance on social relations, and Rangers finds a subtle Irish background mixed with prosaic lyrics, a good combination, but she sings it with slight lackluster and as pretty as the song is, I'm left a little unsatisfied. The meloncholy feel of the album is the reason I love it, but you can have meloncholy without monotony, and I think she rides a fine line. I truly hope that her follow-up album finds her doing some soul-searching. A voice that pretty is too good to waste on songs it doesn't deeply connect with.

I'm going back and upgrading my rating after three weeks based on having had a little more time to sit with the album. I have enjoyed the recent flood of talented female artists sharing their unique voices from Amy Winehouse to Sara Bareilles to Colbie Calliat. I agree with one of the recent reviewers that this album suffers badly from overproduction and perhaps doesn't compliment the talent of the amazing vocal talents of Alison Sudol. At times it still seems as if she's struggling against the background tracks to hear herself in the recording studio making it hard to really get into it. However, on a few tracks especially "Lifesize" and "Ashes and Wine" her sultry and slightly bruised vocal style really comes through. This is still a welcome addition to the genre. Hopefully the next attempt will really let her obvious talent come through.

First of all let me say that although I listen to a wide variety of music, I usually only find a couple artists in any given "genre" who I think fit the bill artist.

A Fine Frenzy (insert her name as everyone else did) has struck me as art. Art, in any form, should make me feel. If I don't feel anything then it's not art for me. One Cell in the Sea, on the very first listen, had me smilling through tears more than once. There is something so heart-wrenchingly wonderful about this selection of songs that I must play it frequently. I won't go into a song-by-song. Suffice it say that if you have not gifted your ears with A Fine Frenzy, it is time.

A few years ago, I discovered Elvis Costello for the first time. Soon after, it was Snow Patrol and the Killers. This year's tremendous musical discovery is A Fine Frenzy. This album completely picks me up and whisks me away wherever I'm going or doing. From the thought-provoking lilt of "Minnow & Trout" to the punchy pull of "You Picked Me" and the passionate pining of "Ashes & Wine," this album moves me from one emotion to another unlike anything has in years. I cannot WAIT until this fascinating songwriter and performer produces something new. And I didn't know a thing when I bought it. Take the risk. You'll be so thankful you did!

This is an excellent CD. I find it a great way to unwind and feel at peace.

I'm a big fan of the CD. She was super cute and sweet at her Salt Lake concert.

I love this CD- it is curently my favorite. It reminds me of summer, dreamy and relaxing.

I had never heard of her before but it was a recommendation on Amazon. I love it! Her voice is amazing and the entire CD is wonderful! A great CD if you like female singer/songwriters.

This album is beautiful. Her voice is angelic. It's an album you can put on and don't have to skip through any songs. It's similar to Sara Barelis however a little more mellow. Am completely happy with my purchase and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys mellow, relaxed, beautiful vocals and music

One Cell in the Sea by A Fine Frenzy is one fine album. Alison Sudol is her real name and I love that red hair! Alison has a sweet, affectionate, and unique voice, in some of the tracks you can hear a hint of a English accent and this girl is from the West Coast! Her songs, melodies, and lyrics are worth purchasing this album. Everytime I hear One Cell in the Cell, I feel like I am in another decade or place, Alison also plays piano on six of the tracks. Songs I cannot get enough of are: Come On, Come Out, Whisper, You Picked Me, Lifesize, Last of Days, Ashes and Wine, Hope for the Hopeless, and Borrowed Time. The two songs released Almost Lover and Rangers are hands-down the best tracks on the album. Rangers is a haunting song that gets stuck in my head all freakin' day, love it! I highly recommend A Fine Frenzy, can't wait to hear what she does next! Enjoy.

I clicked on A Fine Frenzy, never hearing of her before. When I started listening to the sound clips, I was hooked. She has a beautiful voice and I liked the lyrics, too. Loreena McKennett is one of my favorite Celtic singers, but I have everything she has ever done. It is nice to find another singer that reminds me of her voice and her style with a little Enya thrown in. A 5 star show to be sure. If you like Celtic music as much as I do, you will be hooked, too. Faira

I actually ordered this CD through Barnes & Noble after getting an email offer (A Fine Frenzy was an exclusive artist release for B&N Members last fall). I let the CD sit around for a few weeks and then I decided to pop it into my CD player in my car on the way home from work one afternoon. And I was hooked. The vocals reminded me of Sarah McLachlan and Anna Nalick in a way, and the simple orchestrations were so much purer than what we're used to hearing on the radio these days. Now it's my "I need to chill out from this day" CD, and I keep it in the car to play when my kindergarten students have wreaked havoc with my nerves. It's a releasing CD, with messages of hope, love, despair, compassion, and acceptance.

I first fell in love with her when i watched her on youtube and simply loved her voice and the way she sings.
Immediately bought the album to listen to more of her.
Her songs are great, well written. Wished the recording and remastering of the CD was done better though. The Bonus material from the Live DVD sounded so much better that the CD itself. Just wished it would sound similar.
Still enjoying the CD though...just not as much as i would've wanted to.

I watched a video on Youtube with the song 'Near to You' by A Fine Frenzy playing in the background and fell in love with the song. I went to their myspace page to listen to more of their songs and then decided i wanted to buy the album. However it wasn't available in New Zealand so my second choice was to turn to Amazon, which supplied me with this CD efficiently. Amazon service is very good so i will defiently be using Amazon again.

I discovered A Fine Frenzy off of a Youtube Celebrity; Brooke Brodack or otherwise known as *Brookers*. Right when I heard the song "Almost Lover" on her Youtube Channel, I instantly fell in love with "A Fine Frenzy". I agree with all of the reviewers that love her and I agree; this is one of the strongest and most beautiful albums I have heard in the past 2 years, along with "The Mating Game by Bitter:Sweet." Her vocals are strong and the melodies are smooth. The music makes you feel good inside and all warm and fuzzy. My personal favorites are *You Picked Me*, *Come on Come Out* and *Lifesize*. Even my friends love A Fine Frenzy ! She is an amazing singer and I wish her luck for the future ! She will definitely have a Future in Music. She will be HUGE one day :D

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

If you like this Album, you may enjoy
1. Little Voice* Sara Bareilles
2. The Reminder* Feist
3. Coco* Colbie Caillat

Recommended !!
Overall Grade* B+
Jordan (:

She hits all the right notes, and poetically voices wonderful lyrics. To be self taught and only playing for 3-4 years and have this sound in an album is exceptional. Her cd has been in constant play for the past 4 months. Waiting for he next one with much anticipation. My only wish is that she was a Christian singing for God. Her music is extremely delightful. Good job Alison, and mini-band.

It would be fair to say that this is a stunning collection, not just of songs but of poetry. Lyrical and atmospheric, the songs take you through the emotions of life, a well as some astute observations: wrapped in extraordinary melodies. I think we'll hear more of A Fine Frenzy, but this opening album is a must-have.

This is a really great album if you want something really pretty and melodic to listen to. It has a lot of great songs. There isn't anything groundbreaking about it but it is certainly nice to listen to.

....with this album; I really have. I bought it because Amazon "recommended it for me", because I liked Colbie Caillat's "Coco". OK...I've already confessed a weakness for pretty redheads, and Miss Sudol is certainly that. She has a very pleasant voice, and the songs have a most enjoyable rhythm. And, the best cuts on the record, "Almost Lover", and "Liar, Liar" are absolutely superb. But.....

....I can't understand the words. If you read my five star review of the above mentioned "Coco", I praised Colbie for letting us hear every word. On this, I feel lucky to pick up one in ten. Sorry; a pleasant sound isn't enough.

This isn't a "bad" record....in fact, it's kind of engaging. I'll even keep trying, but I really do like to comprehend the lyrics.