Seventeen years after the release of “Cyberia,” Sainkho Namtchylak revisits the album’s repertoire in a new project created in collaboration with Israeli producer Noam Helfer. Titled “Cyberia Reimagined,” the album was released on November 13 and is now available on all digital platforms via Ponderosa Music Records.
The project draws on the original recordings of “Cyberia,” released in 2009 and conceived as a suite for solo a cappella voice, in which the Tuvan singer explored the expressive possibilities of her distinctive vocal language. Helfer has reworked this material, building new sonic landscapes around Namtchylak’s performances, moving between electronic music, trip-hop, folk and cinematic influences.
The album features nine tracks: six new interpretations by Helfer alongside the three original a cappella recordings that inspired them. By placing the reworked versions alongside their original counterparts, the album allows listeners to follow the evolution of the compositions and explore the relationship between the voice in its most unadorned form and its subsequent electronic transformations.
The collaboration began almost by chance, when Helfer came across Sainkho’s music on Spotify. Fascinated by the intensity of her voice and the distinctive sonic world of “Cyberia,” he began reworking several compositions, approaching them not as conventional remixes but as entirely new interpretations. When Namtchylak heard the results, she immediately recognised something beyond a simple reinterpretation. What had started as a spontaneous artistic experiment gradually evolved into an official collaboration with Ponderosa Music Records. “These are not just remixes; this is a new reading, a reinterpretation of sound, where each track carries its own unique story,” says Namtchylak.
Among the tracks released ahead of the album are Lilla Evening (Reimagined), issued in March, My Dear Left (Reimagined), released in October, and Ary Bory (Folk Version), which arrived on October 30. Each draws on personal memories and narrative elements that inform the project: the distant church bells that inspired Lilla Evening; the reflection on intuition, emotional balance and compassion at the heart of My Dear Left; and Namtchylak’s childhood memories of the banks of the Yenisei River, which shape Ary Bory and its references to Tuvan nomadic mythology.
A pioneering figure in contemporary vocal experimentation, Sainkho Namtchylak has developed a musical language that spans khöömei, Tuvan throat singing, improvisation and experimental music. Over the course of her career, she has collaborated with artists and ensembles from very different musical backgrounds, including the free-jazz group Tri-O, Otomo Yoshihide and Tinariwen. Noam Helfer, a multidisciplinary artist and producer based in Tel Aviv, works across music production, dance composition and immersive sound experiences.
Namtchylak’s openness to different musical languages was also apparent in her 2023 interview with Musica Jazz, on the occasion of the release of “Where Water Meets Water: Bird Songs & Lullabies.” In that conversation, the singer discussed her relationship with different genres and musical forms, from jazz to electronic music, highlighting the importance of keeping her creative horizons open. This same attitude finds a new expression in “Cyberia Reimagined,” where her vocal explorations meet electronic sounds and musical forms that also speak to the sonic imagination of younger generations. For Namtchylak, experimentation is not confined to niche or avant-garde territories: it also means remaining curious about contemporary musical languages and embracing the possibilities they offer.
