Alison Sudol

Sudol playing the piano, Salt Lake City, 2008

In her music career, Sudol used the moniker A Fine Frenzy, taken from the phrase "in a fine frenzy rolling" (i.e., rolling in the ecstasy of inspiration), in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V, Scene 1.[6][7][8] In March 2007, Sudol appeared at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference, opening for The Stooges. Shortly after, her debut album, One Cell in the Sea, was released to generally positive reviews.[9] The first single, "Almost Lover", peaked at number 25 on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. In mid-2007, she secured another opening spot, this time for Rufus Wainwright on his tour. In March and April 2008, Sudol headlined her own tour in the US and Canada, and in April she toured France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. In September 2008, she was the star act on the opening night of the New Pop Festival organized by the German broadcaster SWR3. She returned to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland on a headline tour in November 2008 and played in the Super Bock em Stock festival in Portugal in December 2008.

Her song "You Picked Me" was featured on iTunes as one of the "Free Single of the Week" for August 14, 2007, and VH1 featured her as one of their "You Oughta Know" artists.[10] Additionally, in October 2008, "You Picked Me" was chosen as network theme by SIC, a Portuguese television network. To date, One Cell in the Sea has sold 300,000 copies. In 2008 it was released in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Poland. In each of those countries, the album peaked within the top 30, with the first single, "Almost Lover," reaching number eight in Germany, number ten on the Swiss Charts and number five in Austria.[11] Sudol's second album, Bomb in a Birdcage, was released September 8, 2009.[12] The first single, "Blow Away," was released on July 17, 2009, followed by two more singles, "Happier" and "Electric Twist".[13] On November 23, 2009, a live album and concert film recorded in 2007, A Fine Frenzy Live at the House of Blues Chicago, was released on iTunes.

On October 31, 2011, Sudol stated via Twitter that the band was mastering their new record.[14] Several song titles, including "Avalanches" and "Riversong", were confirmed during Sudol's appearance at the Sundance Film Festival. In the March 2012 issue of Lucky magazine, Sudol revealed the third album's title as being Pines.[15] Previously scheduled for release in September 2012, the album's release date was pushed back to October 9. Along with Pines, Sudol released an animated short film and a companion book illustrated by Jen Lobo.[16] In September 2012, A Fine Frenzy was featured in a campaign called "30 Songs / 30 Days" to support Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, a multi-platform media project inspired by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's book.[17] Afterwards, Sudol stated that she will no longer perform as A Fine Frenzy, although she continues to write songs: "I put A Fine Frenzy to bed".[18]

For Season 1 of the television series Transparent, Sudol and fellow cast member Clementine Creevy recorded a cover of Jim Croce's song "Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)" under the band name Glitterish. A full version of the song was included on the Transparent soundtrack album, released in December 2014.[19]

On November 24, 2017 Alison Sudol released "Enough Honey", the debut single under her own name.[20]

Sudol at the 2016 Japan premiere of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

In 2014, Sudol focused on her acting career and starred as Kaya in the recurring cast of the first season of Amazon Video series Transparent. The role was a singer and love interest of Jay Duplass' character Josh.[21][22][23] She also starred in the main cast of the television series Dig, as the archeologist Emma Wilson.[21] Elle named Sudol one of "The 7 Most Exciting Newcomers on TV this Season" in January 2015.[24]

In 2016, Sudol co-starred in the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the first in a series of five Harry Potter prequel films written by J. K. Rowling. Sudol plays Queenie Goldstein, the younger sister of Tina (Katherine Waterston), alongside Newton "Newt" Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). The film is set in New York sixty-five years before Harry Potter's story starts, is based on the Hogwarts textbook of the same name, and follows the adventures of its author, "magizoologist" Newt Scamander. The film was released in November.[25] Sudol reprised the role in the film's 2018 sequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

Sudol has often referred to the literary influences on her music. Recently she disclosed that she is also pursuing a secondary career as a writer. In an interview, Sudol said she is working a children's story in the "Narnia" tradition, a fantasy featuring animals.[26] In a later interview with Ladygunn magazine, Sudol revealed the title of her fantasy adventure book to be Three Sails and the Family Moss.[27]