A Fine Frenzy - One Cell in the Sea

Alison Sudol is only going to become even more popular. Rather, A Fine Frenzy will surely make a name for Alison Sudol. The 22-year-old singer-songwriter born in Seattle, relocated to Los Angeles when she was just 5. She taught herself to play piano in her mid-teens and recorded a short demo that immediately caught the attention of Capitol Records. After signing to Capitol she performed with great success at SXSW in March 2007. The stage name for Ms. Sudol, A Fine Frenzy, comes from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

A Fine Frenzy's brand of music is influenced, as she says, by the likes of Keane and Coldplay. Ms. Sudol plays the piano beautifully and creates infectious melodies with her powerfully restrained voice. She sounds like an artist well beyond her years. With appearances on the likes of Jay Leno and Carson Daly, clearly either someone is listening or she's getting great PR. Either way, it's refreshing to hear another young voice that bends the mold for females with pianos. Unfortunately, the album as a whole does not really take off. The 14 songs on her debut One Cell in the Sea (July 2007) kind of blend together and sees her repeating vocal techniques. Her lyrics are decent, but she tries too hard to be profound. While she may wish to emulate Chris Martin, she doesn't reach his emotional gravitas rendering the music just okay. Even though the album is enjoyable, and shows a gifted artist at the beginning of her career, it may leave some disappointed.