NYLON - Interview & Video Feature "5 Canadian Bands You Should Listen To Right Now"
FILTER - Interview & Video Feature "A Conversation With Krief"
Indie88 - Album Stream Premiere “Both Red and Blue explore a multitude genres and styles; each song unique in instrumentation and mood, while it is Krief’s lyrics that tie together both records as a comprehensive concept. From Red, “Magdalena” recalls the musician’s familiarity with baroque pop, while “Godspeed” draws from a version of himself set somewhere in the 70s psychedelic rock movement. Song to song, Blue stays closer together thematically, with a heavy influence of Beach Boys-era love songs that’s easily recognized on “This Madness”, and “The Mayan”, a slower jam that could have easily come from the unreleased vault of Pink Floyd.”
National Post Session - In-Studio Session Live Video “Great music takes time — for the creator and the audience. Look no further than the Dears’ guitarist Patrick Krief’s fourth solo release Automatic. Epic, ambitious, lush and sprawling, the 81-minute magnum opus — divided into two discs, Red and Blue — not only traffics in the grandly textured and artfully rendered indie-rock anthems but also broadens his horizons by incorporating everything from country and folk to ambient electronics and intimate balladry. Watch and listen. It’s well worth your time.”
Le Devoir - Album Feature “(Krief) reveals himself as a songwriter of infinite delicacy and greatness. Yes, the tone is sometimes melancholic, there are rooms in the music house where sadness can curl up, and windows to let out the aggressiveness, but the listening experience does good to the soul. Even songs that open the first disc, “All Is Lost” and “Darkometro”, announcing dark black, are skylights. These texts do not bury the pain, but tenderness prevails in the melodies, harmonies, and the rich orchestrations.”
FYI Music News - Interview “Automanic Red and Automanic Blue display the sort of ambition from a single artist rarely seen in Canada.”
Journal Metro - Feature “Topped with melancholy and heartwarming melodies that evoke the rich British tradition of the Beatles to the Super Furry Animals, Automanic is a dark and intensely personal album amid death and rupture. This creation in the turmoil reminds us that the greatest achievements are often conceived in times of sadness. A blue disc introspective and a fiery red disc.”
Red Deer Express - Artist Feature & Interview “There is little music out there that reaches more deeply on a personal level than that of Montreal singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Krief. His new project, Automanic, has been described as ‘epic’ and it’s a fitting word to use...the opening sounds of Automanic Red are immediately alluring thanks to the stunning “All Is Lost”. “Darkometro” continues the powerful run, with it’s comparably lighter, pop-styled touch. The title track is also compelling, as is the utterly unique and remarkably crafted. Krief is clearly a musician who isn’t wary of treading fresh sonic territory - there truly isn’t very much out there like what he has created, and it’s refreshing to say the least.”
AUXTV - Single Premiere “Personal material that nevertheless regularly breaks through to hopeful washed-out soundscapes and anthemic balladry. “Mississippi” is representative of the darker, more forceful side of Automanic with its sinister synth pulses, relentless verbed-out groove, and fiery guitar solo sounding like controller.controller material played by Grinderman.”
Rocky Mountain Express - Artist Feature & Interview “The result is no less than an opus work by a musician who was pushed to the brink, and propelled to a creative peak. Krief is now ready to share a very poignant piece of his life and work.”