2013 is a long time ago. Obviously. For fans of Sky Ferreira and her stunning debut album ‘Night Time, My Time’, it feels like a lifetime. Now, though, that long wait might just be coming to an end. With the unveiling of a typically Sky “Official First Photo” on Instagram this week, the beginning of the new era of Sky Ferreira is tantalisingly close.
We’ve already known the album title for ages
It’s long been confirmed that Sky’s second album will be called ‘Masochism’. Speaking to Dazed in 2016, the singer described her thought process behind the title. “The way I look at it, it’s about going from one thing to another. I’ve learned a lot about myself and my own self-value. Before, in order to feel good about anything, there had to be some kind of struggle, a painful way to get to it. Otherwise, I felt I didn’t really deserve it. Which is a really fucked up way of thinking. I became a masochist in every single way.”
She’s already confirmed she’ll once again be working with super producers Ariel Rechtshaid and Justin Raisen, while also bringing in new collaborators Mike Dean (who’s worked with Kendrick Lamar) and her old pal Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream.
But wait, are we getting something different first?
Always full of surprises, Sky took to Snapchat late last year to reveal some more details about her plans for 2018, which might not involve an album just yet. “I am putting out new music really really really soon (for real) EARLY 2018. It’s a series of songs (not my album) that melt together like soap.”
Sky Ferreira has always been an artist with a strong and distinctive visual identity. Suitability then, she is planning on doing something with a strong visual focus. Sky expanded on these plans in an interview with The Fader. “It’s an EP that is heavily visual, and the videos will all connect to each other in an abstract way,” she said.
Here’s where the real exciting part comes in: “It’ll be starting to come out in February, or March, for sure. I am experimenting a little more, and that’s why it’s an EP, too. I can have fun with it.”
There’s a more important reason why we’ve had to wait a while
Sky used her Twitter account in November last year to explain why she can’t quite put the whole album out just now. “The only reason I can’t put a ton of new music all at once is because I’m ill & have been for a while,” she explained. “I have to get completely better so I can tour & actually promote it. I was misdiagnosed for a long time & I’m now just starting to actually recover.”
As well as her health issues, she’s had to deal with management and label turmoil which have conspired to stop her releasing any new music. Let’s hope for a swift recovery so she can take over the world all over again.
What’s she been up to in the intervening years?
Despite the lack of new tunes, Sky has kept herself constantly busy, focusing on some of her interests outside music including directing her first music video, the wonderfully woozy, joyous psychedelic waltz of Marching Church’s ‘Christmas on Earth’.
She’s also spent time in front of the camera in 2017 with parts in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks and Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver. Plus, she contributed a gorgeous cover of The Commodores’ classic ‘Easy’ for Baby Driver’s soundtrack.
We also know she has a huge wealth of unreleased material and demos, some of which she uploaded to Instagram last year with some teaser track titles like ‘Bittersweet Devotion’.
Bittersweet Devotion… pic.twitter.com/UY6tJeFGp6
— Sky Ferreira Updates (@SkyFUpdates) April 26, 2017
So it’s an exciting time, then?
Well, Sky Ferreira’s debut album was as good a pop record as you could ever hope to hear, combining insane hooks, turbo bangers, dark lyrical introspection and effortless cool into one intoxicating package. You can bet she’s going to do it again. Sky Ferreira doesn’t do things by half measures. She’s ready to take it to the next level. [sc name=”stopper” ]