CYBER Is SAD :’(

Electronica duo CYBER resolve their troubled teenage years on their latest album

To label CYBER simply as a hip-hop duo would do its members Salka Valsdóttir and Jóhanna Rakel — Joe — a great disservice.

While certainly drawing from the well of hip-hop, CYBER has since 2017 consistently proved themselves to be much more than a band, constructing whole universes coupled with intricately detailed stage design in their live performances.

Whether it’s carrying a life-sized coffin onstage or building a set piece evoking Californian beach culture, CYBER has always had a flair for the visual and theatrical.

Now celebrating the release of their third LP album, SAD :’( (out October 4), CYBER is opening up old wounds and digging up the awkward — and the awful — experience of being a teenager.

SAD teenagers

“It’s a bit of a period piece,” Salka begins, explaining CYBER’s latest release. “To some extent, we’re basing it on what we were thinking as teenagers and the music we listened to. As is often the case with us, it became more theatrical.”

“[SAD :’(] specifically examines two teenagers who live in a bedroom located in this Greek amphitheatre, where they’re constantly being watched. They’re both paranoid about being seen while also obsessed about it,” she explains.

“It’s a bit ridiculous,” Joe remarks with a smile. “But I remember vividly when we started thinking about making this record. I thought, ‘We’re just gonna do one pop album. No concept. Just some nice club music. We won’t need to think too much.’ That got out of hand very quickly.”

It’s such a voyeuristic experience being a teenager.

“Yet again, we have this huge world that is somehow too complex to explain to anyone,” Joe continues, further detailing the SAD :’( universe by explaining that the teenagers in question are covered by a unidirectional glass, where, “they can’t see out, but you can see in. And they can feel that someone is watching them. And I’m like, ‘Why?’ There’s no reason for that,” Joe laughs.

“It’s such a voyeuristic experience being a teenager,” Salka jumps in. “It revolves so much around being perceived by others and being occupied with how others perceive you,” she opines. “So I think the concept about the amphitheatre was a way to construct a simple idea which easily describes the condition of being obsessed with this part of your life.”

Social media guinea pigs

Not only does the album serve as a reflection of Salka and Joe’s experiences during adolescence, SAD :’( also became a platform for the pair to philosophise on the rise of social media and its effects on teenagers. On top of the existential crisis intrinsic to growing up, Salka and Joe belong to the millennial generation that came of age during the dawn of social media — in Joe’s words: “Dealing with the double load of figuring out your identity in the real world and on the internet.”

I was wearing three push-up bras with no breasts, trying to show adult people that I’m a sexy child.

“We were both deep in philosophical questions at the time. Everything was new for us. There opened up a space for us to contemplate old wounds,” Joe remarks. “If I think about the things I did — I was unhinged and just awful. I was wearing three push-up bras with no breasts, trying to show adult people that I’m a sexy child.”

“I think it was a brutal time to be a teenager,” Salka adds. “It’s pretty brutal to be a guinea pig for social media and experience the heavy pornification happening on every media, while there was no real consensus on what was appropriate. The culture was extremely saturated with sexism and sexualisation, which our parents weren’t as attuned to as we were,” Salka explains. “And you could share all of this information much faster via MSN and Myspace, so I think it was a hardcore time for sensitive souls.”

CYBER’s wild imagination

At this point, CYBER’s mainstay includes releasing elaborate concept albums which completely transform the band’s identity, aesthetics, and performance style — almost verging on a full-blown musical production. Between 2016 and 2018, CYBER released three albums, changing their image at every turn. “We get bored fast,” says Salka.

According to them, it’s become a workable method — a way to tame their wild imagination. “I think sitting down with a blank page is really scary. You could do anything in the world. That’s so annoying,” says Joe. “For me, having a concept is a good starting point for writing.”

“We started out in Reykjavíkurdætur, which had a lot of members, so we started deciding on a sort of theme out of necessity,” Salka explains of the duo’s beginnings. “I guess it’s a method to give everyone ample space to create individually, while still making sense [together].”

Starting their run collaborating in a widely popular and equally controversial all-female rap collective, Salka and Joe formed a close friendship. Their relationship is one of the keys to CYBER’s originality and ambition, allowing them to discuss ideas that have percolated through several years of conversation.

“Most of the time, we’ve already decided all the song titles before we start actually writing them. We contemplate and formulate before we actually start writing,” says Salka.

An album for the weirdos

In contrast to releases prior to the 2020 offering VACATION, Salka and Joe feel they’ve grown out of necessitating speedy releases.

Instead of burning through ideas and laying it all on the table, they’ve opted to focus more diligently on their music and production. Additionally, they’ve pared down their over-the-top performance antics, turning the focus away from the pomp and onto the duo.

“[Performing] has become very natural for us,” Salka admits. “It used to be extremely complex and had me anxious a month before every show. Because we needed to, like, borrow six couches. It was a major hassle. Now, it’s less of a hassle, on the account of us being better performers.”

It’s pointless suffering a nervous breakdown because of a bass drum track.

“We don’t need to hide behind such an enormous quantity of props,” Joe adds, stating for the record that CYBER still loves props. “We used to be all about the tricks,” Salka chimes in. “Now, I feel like we’re at the almost opposite end. We aren’t doing anything.”

Salka and Joe explain CYBER’s development on account of growing up — “Having a fully developed frontal cortex,” as Joe puts it.

“VACATION and SAD :’( are the albums that I think are our most diligent and contemplated. I don’t know what changed,” Salka says. “Maybe one of the reasons is that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. I think we’ve decided that CYBER is a joyous entity in our lives. It’s pointless suffering a nervous breakdown because of a bass drum track,” she continues.

“It doesn’t matter to us. And ironically, in terms of the album’s subject matter, we’ve never cared less about what people think about this project,” Salka admits, “which is super emancipating.”

“There’s a certain group of people I know will love our new album, and I don’t care for the rest,” Joe says emphatically. “It’s not for those people. It’s an album for the weirdos.”

SAD :’( is out via marvaða on available streaming platforms. Catch their DJ set at Röntgen on October 12 and their album release show at marvaða on October 25 .