The duo of Lily Konigsberg (Palberta) and Nate Amos (Water from Your Eyes) started challenging each other to "mess with different sounds" in 2020 and became fast friends as they compiled some of the resulting quirky, multi-genre-referencing indie pop songs on That's My Idea, their 2021 debut EP under the moniker My Idea. While remaining in their bands and, in the case of Konigsberg, releasing solo material, the productive songwriters followed it nine months later with the full-length Cry Mfer.