Album DescriptionAvailable in:

One Cell in the Sea is the first studio album by A Fine Frenzy, the stage name of American singer-songwriter Alison Sudol, released under Virgin Records on July 17, 2007. The album debuted at #158 on the Billboard 200 and later peaked at #91.
Sudol made a demo tape consisting of songs on One Cell in the Sea, which eventually fell into the hands of the CEO of Virgin Records. After listening to the tape, the CEO flew to Sudol's mother's home in Los Angeles to listen to her play. According to Sudol, he responded most positively to "Rangers," a track she considers "obscure and weird," so she found the label to be understanding.
The album title comes from a lyric in "The Minnow and the Trout" because Sudol felt the phrase "summed up everything." During a March 2008 interview with The Ledger, she stated the following of the title:
It's the beginning of something, it's the loneliness that I felt when I was making this album, because a lot of the writing of it was done late at night when everyone else was out doing their own thing. I wouldn't have wanted to be out, but it was a feeling of everybody being someone else, and you're lonely. And also it's the unity that we all have from basic human emotions and we all came from somewhere, so we're all connected. And that's how I tied everything together
User Album Review
A Fine Frenzy is not really a band, but one very talented 22-year-old named Alison Sudol. Her debut album, One Cell in the Sea is haunting, delicate, lyrical, atmospheric, and moving. I had better stop with all the adjectives.
Born in Seattle, raised in Los Angeles, Sudol graduated high school at 16 and immediately started a band. At 18 she struck out on her own. Rather than hit up the infamous L.A. club scene, Sudol secreted herself away in her living room with her music. When Virgin Records CEO Jason Flom came to see - and eventually sign - A Fine Frenzy, it was in that very living room. Her mother even baked cookies. Sudol's influences are obviously varied: Elton John, Ella Fitzgerald, Philip Glass, and Radiohead are just a few. Literature also figures heavily into her music. "In Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, from one moment to the next you don't know where you are, but at the end it all makes sense," says Sudol of one of her favorite authors. "You can be in the strangest situation, but it seems normal. I love incorporating that sort of twisted logic into my writing." The name A Fine Frenzy was even drawn from a line in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
The first single, "Almost Lover" is soulful and sad. The loneliness and despair comes across plainly in this simple piano song. An interesting choice for a single, "Almost Lover" is much more of a "downer" than most singles. But downer in a good way, a very good way. Sudol picks things up with the next track, the far lighter "Think of You." It doesn't have that same emotional connect as "Almost Lover" and some of the simpler songs, but Alison's beautiful voice - feminine without being whiny - comes through confident and strong. A better example of an "upbeat" song is "Liar, Liar" which allows Alison's voice to soar and remain emotional throughout the maritime tune.
One Cell in the Sea is a strong debut from a very talent young musician. She goes beyond the "girl and her piano" pigeonhole. Not as angry as Apple, not as girlie as McLachlan, and not as nutty as Amos, A Fine Frenzy is beautiful music, solid lyrics, and a strong voice to tie it all together.
External Album Reviews
None...
User Comments
