By: Peri Beckerman

Alison Sudol, more commonly known by her stage name A Fine Frenzy, recently released her junior music album on October 9^th, 2012. This album is titled a little plainer than her freshman and sophomore albums (One Cell In The Sea and Bomb In A Birdcage, respectively), and is simply called Pines. However, the story of Pines is no simple matter. Ms. Sudol sings a story; in fact, she herself says that each song is a chapter. As we listen to the story, we hear of a pine tree…named Pines, who is the last pine tree in existence. She hoards her seeds because they are the only things she has. She meets a bird…named Bird, and he stays with her for a long, long time until he eventually leaves.

But Bird soon comes back with other birds to fly Pines to where there is a magical place full of her trees. They go on several adventures; resting on top of a mountain, flying through the air, and eventually they land on the side of a riverbed. All of this time, Pines is letting go of her seeds, not knowing what will become of them. After the riverbed, Pines notices a female bird looking at Bird. She urges Bird to leave her and be with his kind. He does and she gives him her last seed. She then rolls into the river and after many tumultuous sea-storms, dies.

Pines is hallowed out, empty and alone, when some little children find her and play with her. Suddenly, they find the last seed. Huh? But…Pines gave it to Bird! Well, it turns out that there was one last seed that Pines never knew about, and Bird comes in to take the seed, who the spirit of Pines now in and then it turns out that by dropping her seeds everywhere, Pines has restarted the species of pines. Whew. Try writing that 5 times fast. Anyway, Pines and Bird rejoice and everyone lives happily ever after.

I highly recommend checking out A Fine Frenzy, and if you are interested in a different media to see the story of Pines, you can read it in her companion book The Story of Pines (available on iTunes) or watch her Youtube video.

If you would like to hear an interview with Alison Sudol, please watch this video.

Categories: Arts & Culture