CRACK

Here’s everything you can listen to on Cyberpunk 2077

10.12.20
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ICYMI: Cyberpunk 2077 is out now.

The much-discussed title was created by Polish game developer CD Projekt Red and has been a mighty eight years in the making. It was actually supposed to come out in April 2020, and then November, but its release was pushed back until today (10 December) for various reasons such as supposed console optimisation woes.

It’s the kind of video game that will unite avid gamers, underground dance music fanatics and cinephiles alike thanks to its impressive cast (Keanu Reeves, anyone?), electronic-indebted soundtrack and expertly crafted storyline. It’s also an open-world RPG (role-playing game). This means that in order for you to fully dive in and become immersed in the narrative and surroundings, the music that accompanies you on your lengthy odyssey through a dark, dystopian future needs to be as considered and gripping as the ambitious amalgamation of sidequests, boss battles and intriguing characters that you’ll also encounter along the way.

Naturally, this is something CD Projekt Red prioritised just as highly as the other elements that make up the game. In order to bring their world to life, and incorporate a strong sonic presence in a way that feels authentic to the game’s setting, the team enlisted a team of well-known artists and revered acts from across the electronic music realms, plus hip-hop, rock, noise, jazz and more, for musical contributions or even the odd cameo.

As you cruise around Night City, the fictional, neon-hued backdrop to the majority of the game’s action, you can tune into music from the likes of Run The Jewels, Grimes, SOPHIE, Shygirl, Nina Kraviz, A$AP Rocky, Gazelle Twin, Let’s Eat Grandma‘s Rosa Walton, HEALTH and more. The soundtrack will be accessible in-game via radio stations, much like the Rockstar Games title Grand Theft Auto V.

All of the artists take on alternative personas and pseudonyms that further submerge them into the Cyberpunk 2077 universe. Grimes, for instance, takes on a rather fitting role as cyborg pop star and apparent cover girl (not for Crack Magazine, this time) called Lizzy Wizzy. Meanwhile, SOPHIE and Shygirl link up as fictional duo Clockwork Venus and offer up a track titled “BM”. Though, NUXXE co-founder Shygirl revealed on Twitter last week that the tune they’ve contributed is in fact her recent single “SLIME“, and not a new song. 

Elsewhere, Nina Kraviz is a “ripperdoc” called Bara Nova. There’s even has an entire radio station dedicated to Kraviz’s, AKA Nova’s, music. Grimes meanwhile contributes her tune “4ÆM”, lifted from her 2019 studio album Miss Anthropocene. It features alongside a new track titled “Delicate Weapon”. Grimes actually debuted “4ÆM” last year at The Game Awards, simultaneously unveiling her involvement in Cyberpunk 2077 in the process.

While the above artists dominate the Night City airwaves with their licensed material – much like real life, in some regards – there’s also an original soundtrack dreamt up by a team of master composers to enjoy. Polish composers Marcin Przybyłowicz and P. T. Adamczyk, who’ve previously worked on other CD Projekt Red titles such as The Witcher 3 and Gwent, led the in-house music team. They collaborated with Paul Leonard-Morgan, a BAFTA award-winning, Emmy and Ivor Novello-nominated composer and producer.

In a behind the scenes preview into Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack, the team divulged some of their processes, references and inspirations. Essentially, the idea was to take the kind of ’80s electronic elements often associated with sci-fi productions and soundtracks but modify them with a hard-hitting ’90s rave and techno attitude. The team also tried to use as many analogue synthesisers as possible: “so it’s got a warmth to it.” 

Style-wise, they homed in on this heady fusion of rave, industrial and techno interspersed with alternative genres that share a similarly riotous or defiant edge. It makes sense though, given that they needed the sonics to reflect the dysfunctional and technology-driven environment the story is set in. Plus, the grit of inner city life circa 2077.

A fusion of “super heavy” and “super dirty” underground electronic music melded with “very beautiful and ambient” material was utilised to compliment both the world and the game play; keeping you immersed just that bit more. “[The] score is the main vessel of emotions in both film and video games, and Cyberpunk 2077 is no different,” explains Przybyłowicz in his interview snippet.

As Pitchfork revealed last month, CD Projekt Red is releasing the Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack as two standalone projects. 2077: Radio Vol 1 is out on 11 December and 2077: Radio Vol 2 is scheduled for release on 18 December. You can check out a tracklist below and read our Grimes cover story here.

© CD Projekt Red

2077: Radio Vol 1
01 Run the Jewels (Yankee and the Brave) – “No Save Point”
02 SOPHIE / Shygirl (Clockwork Venus) – “BM”
03 Le Destroy (The Bait): – “Kill Kill”
04 Yugen Blakrok (Gorgon Madonna) – “Metamorphosis”
05 Konrad Oldmoney (7 Facas) – “Dinero” [ft. Cerbeus]
06 Deadly Hunta / Maro Music (Footage Missing) – “When It’s War’
07 The Armed (Homeschool Dropouts) – “Night City Aliens”
08 Converge (Shattered Void) – “I Won’t Let You Go”
09 Aligns (Rubicones) – “Friday Night Fire Fight”
10 Tomb Mold (Bacillus) – “Adaptive Manipulator”
11 Deafkids (Tainted Overlord) – “Selva Pulsátil”

2077: Radio Vol 2
01 Namakopuri (Us Cracks) – “PonPon Shit”
02 Grimes (Lizzy Wizzy) – “Delicate Weapon”
03 Rat Boy (IBDY) – “Who’s Ready for Tomorrow”
04 HEALTH (Window Weather) – “Major Crimes”
05 Rosa Walton (Hallie Coggins) – “I Really Want to Stay at Your House”
06 Nina Kraviz (Bara Nova) – “Surprise Me, I’m Surprised Today”
07 Raney Shockne (Point Break Candy) – “Hole in the Sun” [f. COS and Conway]
08 Gazelle Twin (Trash Generation) – “History”
09 Poloz (Tinnitus) – “On My Way to Hell”

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