Every song named “Automatic” is good. Fact.
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Megan Harrington: What I think of as the core, fundamental units of a song’s structure are not what makes “Automatic” exceptional. Aluna Francis is a competent vocalist and she fits into this piece unremarkably. The melody is pleasant and the beat is cut for dancing. But what makes “Automatic” glow, a strobe light that catches you right in the eye and blinds you for a couple seconds, is its details. The stroked keys, blinking against the brightness. The sax winding its away around the room, a head taller than everyone else. They’re the still images that stick in your mind long after the night ends.
[8]
Crystal Leww: As someone who frequents EDM shows, the wet noodle-ness of “Faded” was a scourge in the second half of my 2014 and throughout 2015. “Automatic” is a pleasant surprise; despite Aluna Francis’s overwhelming talents as an electronic vocal writer and performer, I had little faith in ZHU’s ability to bring anything more than limp. While “Automatic” is still muted compared to the bleeting of EDM, its subject of love as a dark and twisted force works better than “Faded,” which was about getting fucked up in the club and wanting to drive back with u. The weird flourishes of the piano and the saxophone help; it pulls it away from feeling like a basic Soundcloud tune. This is honestly not too different in production from “Faded,” but the execution is the difference.
[6]
Katherine St Asaph: Aluna and Zhu’s respective thin voices stay well clear of the more salient elements of the mix: the horror-film sting of a piano line, the sax breakdown, the nocturnal everything turning this ostensible love song into something else. Not quite Dawn, about level with Sarah Whatmore.
[8]
Alfred Soto: The tinny, tiny Stacy Q vocals inhabit this wonderful dark house track, garnished with burbles and piano plinks. And, wow, a decent sax solo over the fade. Not for dancing so much as listening.
[7]
Thomas Inskeep: Understated house beats from Zhu x breathy vocals from AlunaGeorge + that three-note piano riff in the chorus = good dance-pop.
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