Rachika Nayar - Heaven Come Crashing

Release Date:  August 26th, 2022

there's a cool video of her performing the song "Memory as Miniatures" in a bedroom and it reminded me so much of what I loved about Explosions in the Sky, those twinkle electric guitar sounds.

Review: This album doesn't have much of those guitars, at least not as the focal point, but it does have a lot of ambient sounds that I found lovely. It probably helps that I no longer seek out instrumental music anymore, so hearing this felt like a throwback to 2007. It's interesting because a few days ago, i was listening to an album that was drone based and I found it so unengaging. I guess the best way to put it is, this album feels alive.

From the opening track, there's hints of the postal service because of the electronic beep boops. On "Tetramorph" i like that there's this overbearing helicopter noise while there's music playing only for it to end with some intense guitar playing. "Death & Limerence" sounds like something Hammock or The American Dollar would do. "Nausea" sounds a bit darker from the beginning, then the second half is pumped full of keyboard lasers and piano keys. It feels like it would climax, but it doesn't. "Gayatri" continues that sound where it has that heavenly echo and you can hear the guitars make a pattern. It sounds epic, it soars through the ears.

"Heaven Come Crashing" has a feature vocalist, Maria BC. She doesn't sing, but uses her vocals as an instrument. A lot of the album has that heavenly choir feel, but it uses a musical instrument, so her voice fits well. Then the song took a turn to become a trance song. "Sleepless" is a bit simple, but it's easy to understand the progression it's doing. "The Price of Serenity" follows the pattern of the previous songs, but there's more piano to trace the melodies and this also explodes into a trance song at the end. And finally, "Our Wretched Fate" reminds me of m83 with how it gets so loud at the end.

Summary:  I'm impressed. It's the kind of post-rock that has a choir without having a choir.  This album soars and it's epic.I love that there's elements of other genres like early 00s trance that she some how makes it work. of course, at the core, all of the ambient sounds are beautiful and whenever you hear a guitar finger picking, it feels like a blessing.

Favorite Songs: Nausea, Gatatri, The Price of Serenity
Rating: 9/10