Hundred Thousand Pieces is the third solo album by Patrick Krief, guitarist for The Dears. It shouldn’t come as any great surprise then, that the album is populated with authoritative guitar work, but the intense dreaminess of the songs, underlaid with deeply textured instrumentation, was far more powerful and affecting than I expected. This is a lovely album, filled with soulful choruses, soaring vocals and intimate lyrics. The vocals balance beautifully with the dense and well-conceived instrumentation, especially with well-placed flourishes of crying guitars.
At times ethereal, at times meaty and driven, Hundred Thousand Pieces features tracks that feel at once strangely familiar and completely fresh. I found myself singing along with the chorus several times on first listen. Definitely worth a listen, or ten.
