Rachika Nayar: fragments

Sometimes things can seem so simple: an obvious melody, a limited amount of instrumentation, a lo-fi recording. And yet…

Spending some time with Rachika Nayar’s short new collection of songs, fragments, allows the listener to discover new things with every listen. Recorded by herself in her bedroom, these eleven “sonic miniatures” (the EP barely clocks in at 20 minutes) were intended to be a companion piece of sorts to Nayar’s debut full-length, Our Hands Against the Dark, released earlier this spring. Whereas the guitar is present on that album, it is one of many components; here, it takes center-stage, and the often primitive rudimentary sketches played by Nayar are revelatory. Constructed from guitar loops, fragments—recorded for Commend, RVNG Intl.’s communal space on the Lower East Side—is pure acoustic effervescence, its miniature sonic bubbles bouncing around and coating the listener’s ears with a fine spray of sugary mist. But listen more intently, and an occasional darker undertone introduces itself, providing an intriguing counterbalance. The playing is dexterous and virtuosic, yet the results are pure and simple full of radiance and shimmer. | a. tobin

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