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Alison Sudol: A siren's song
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On the recently released Bomb in a Birdcage, Alison Sudol demonstrates how music can echo life changes. "The underlying theme is a struggle because I felt super vulnerable and wasn't sure where I belonged in the world, and I was unsure and felt like i was gonna fall apart at the moment," Alison says. "With every song I wrote, I felt personally in my spirit and career-wise each that each song was a lifeline. There was this rising beast, a sort of threat and [the songs were] strands that connected everything." The difference in range is most apparent in tracks like "Happier" and the more poppy "Electric Twist".
Caught between in the space between reality and fantasy, Alison took the name A Fine Frenzy from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. Explaining the difference between her 2007 debut One Cell and Bomb in a Birdcage, Allison says, "My head space was different when I wrote One Cell. I was in this fantasy land and living in another place in my head. Bomb in a Birdcage is about being on the road and experiences and growing up." She continues, " It is a more earthbound record based in reality. The music seems more upbeat, but then I go back and listen to the lyrics, and it has some darkness to it."
Inspired to write Bomb shortly after New Year while confined to her home sick, Alison describes the creative process that motivated her to start writing a new album, "Sometime around Christmas time there was this evil bug going around and I caught it. It was raining and I was miserable and bored and decided to pick up a guitar and went to my happy place. [The song] took an hour and a half and felt so pure and real and true, and it made me think that it was time to make another record."
"I have always had the intention of making a record like Bomb and I was just more able to carry it out. I was working and writing and trying to grow to get to that point. I love being melancholic and in that stormy gray mood and enjoy dancing and being light hearted. All [the music] comes from the same person and I wanted to explore more," Alison waxes about the motivation to complete her record.
Alison's live performances have undergone a change as well. "The show is really dynamic now. I used to sit at a piano and now I stand up and dance around. I love to play songs like "Swan Song" and "Electric Twist" at some point in the set."
Alison and A Fine Frenzy is playing the last three shows of her tour in the Southern California area this week. She is playing in Los Angeles at the El Rey Theatre Tuesday. Check below for show times and tickets.
A FINE FRENZY
11/16/2009
Belly Up Tavern
Solana Beach, CA
map
| tickets
11/17/2009
El Rey Theatre
Los Angeles, CA
map
| tickets
11/18/2009
House of Blues Anaheim
Anaheim, CA
map
| tickets
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