“Surrender to the master. In the end, nothing matters.”
Sky Ferreira has been unleashed.
After being unceremoniously dumped by Capitol Records on the day of the 10 year anniversary of her debut album Night Time, My Time via automated email in 2023 (she thoroughly details the seemingly insane recording and promotional restrictions she was placed under during the past decade in this great new Vogue conversation with my friend Keaton), the now 32-year-old singer-songwriter is now operating as a free agent.
What is the best course of action for an It Girl scorned, after being cut loose at last from a loathsome label deal and narrowly escaping from the basement of a mansion on the Upper East Side for Madonna Boot Camp? An A24 movie soundtrack, of course.
In all seriousness: there is no more perfect placement for Sky Ferreira’s first post-label song than a Nicole Kidman erotic thriller. Somehow, heartbreak feels embarrassing in a place like this.
On Thursday (December 5), A24 released “Leash,” Sky’s contribution to the original soundtrack, which feels as inspired by the movie as it does her own experiences.
The track was co-written with Jorge Elbrecht, who also worked with Sky on 2019’s “Downhill Lullaby” and 2022’s “Don’t Forget,” both said to be from her oft-delayed, mythical second studio album Masochism.
“Leash” began after she received an email from the movie’s director Halina Reijn and music coordinator Meghan Currier while she touring in Australia. Not only was the song written with the movie in mind, but Sky got to watch an early cut of the film beforehand and speak to the director about the overall vision.
Initially penned with a poppier spirit in mind (she referenced some of the songs the director said were in the film, including George Michael‘s “Father Figure” and INXS‘s “Need You Tonight”), Sky watched the movie for a second time in the middle of the night and began writing the song, inspired by certain scenes from the film.
“The crux of the film is that feeling of being a prisoner to yourself, and that’s what I wanted to embody. There’s something a bit emotionally nihilistic about it all,” she told Vogue. Sounds a bit…masochistic if you ask me.
“That character is very self-destructive and destructive with other people’s lives, but she kinda has to do it for the sake of growing as a person. It’s that feeling when you know from the beginning that a situation isn’t going to end well, but you go right into it anyway. There were things I saw the characters do in the film that bothered me because I’ve also done that type of thing before, and I didn’t like that. I asked myself why I was having this reaction, and from there the song kinda just spilled out of me.”
Sky turned the track around for the film in under three weeks this past summer – “which is fucking crazy because I take forever to do anything,” she noted to Vogue, self-aware queen that she is – just in time for the Venice Film Festival in August, where fans first noticed that it was Sky’s voice echoing through the theater in the background as the cast and crew emotionally embraced during a 6.5 minute standing ovation.
But she didn’t feel rushed: “I need time to write and make music, but ‘Leash’ came together without me feeling that it got compromised in terms of lyrics or production,” she assured Vogue.
“I’m so happy they went for it because it’s a bit… I’m not sure if ’sinister’ is the right word, but it’s definitely ’darker.’ It’s definitely based on Nicole Kidman’s performance,” she explained to The Face.
“Wanna be caught, go down in flames. I know I’ll never get my way.”
“Leash” contains all the elements Sky’s etched into her jet black, sunglasses-at-night musical identity across the few-and-far-between releases over the years, from Night Time, My Time to “Don’t Forget”: fuzzy, overdriven guitars. Crashing drums. Sultry synths. Snarling and brutal lyricism. Sweeping and cinematic melodies. There’s a little Garbage, some Hole, maybe a bit of Blur. It all comes together to form one menacing masterpiece.
There are so many moments, melodies and lines to latch onto in “Leash,” as she alternates between desperate yelping and ominous deadpan declarations. “Surrender to the master / In the end, nothing matters.” That horny post-chorus countdown. (“5, 4, 3, 2, 1…“). That deadly bridge, which squeezes her voice into distorted Hell. (“I…I…I saw, I saw right through you.“) And, of course, that anthemic outro. (“I tore apart this veil of shame / I fought so hard just to be erased.“)
It not only fits the bill of the film’s themes (at least, if we’re taking everyone’s word for it so far), but conveys the kind of complex cycle of rage, submission and defeat that one might expect to hear from someone who’s fought over a decade’s worth of delays, setbacks and dirty music industry deception.
It’s yet another epic addition to the slow growing, yet consistently stellar Sky Ferreira discography, and further evidence why her fans have waited, and will continue to wait, as long as it takes for new music on her terms. From Myspace demo days to decade-long delays, we’re in it for the long haul.
And while we card-carrying Little Ferreirasters have been trained not to expect much output, Sky seems determined to do things differently now that she’s on her own. And for the first time in a long time, it feels like she really might be getting her way.
“I am following up ‘Leash’ with another song right afterwards—some time early next year—because I don’t want it to seem like some random one-off,” she promised Vogue, before providing yet another whack at her former label: “Because that’s another thing, Capitol would’ve never let me do something like this Babygirl song.”
It sucks that the record label never really saw the vision, because “Leash” has all the makings of a Best Original Song nomination at next year’s Academy Awards. And it deserves.
Let us now rejoice in streaming Sky’s first release in years ad nauseam – can we stop the count for 2025 now, Spotify Wrapped? – as we reserve Babygirl tickets. (And, of course, let’s continue to politely pester her for a full studio version of her Lady A “Need You Now” cover from Coachella.)
Oh right, and give her back her fucking demos (and Soundcloud account password), Capitol.
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Photo credit: Morgan Maher
