Nayar was born and raised in State College, Pennsylvania. Her parents were professors at Pennsylvania State University.[1] She first released music under the name of Rachika S. Her first release, Themes For A Film (2018) was a rescoring of the soundtrack to the anime film Tekkonkinkreet (2006). The next year she developed the soundtrack for and starred in the film So Pretty (2019).[2] Nayar released music as Rachika Nayar for all subsequent releases. She released her first full-length album in 2021, titled Our Hands Against The Dusk. The title is a reference to a poem by poet Richard Jackson.[3] The same year, Nayar released a collection of songs called Fragments.[4] Nayar released her second full-length album in 2022, titled Heaven Come Crashing, through NNA Tapes.[5] The album was named Stereogum's "Album of the Week".[6] The album received "Best New Music" designation from Pitchfork.[7] In April 2023, Nayar released an expanded version of Fragments. Alongside the announcement, Nayar released a new song titled "hawthorn".[8][9]
Nayar has been dubbed by Paste "The Best of What's Next".[10]
Nayar's music has been described as experimental and ambient music. She states that she prefers making music in such genres because she feels they "reside more in the abstracted realms of the pre-verbal or subconscious or [...] spiritual."[11] Her debut album was inspired by the French musical group M83 as well as the soundtrack of Ghost in the Shell (1995).
