A big regret of mine is the time I sat too long on an offer to interview Sky Ferreira a couple of years back. Sadly, I doubt that interview op is going to come back around any time soon as, recently, she's become something of a big deal. Recent single Everything Is Embarrassing has earned her probably more kudos than anything she's released to date while her live sets have also succeeded in generating a 'buzz'.
Hopefully, this means we'll finally get an album. A release, entitled 'I'm Not Alright', has tentatively been scheduled for early 2013, with production by Jon Brion, Greg Kurstin and Ariel Rechtshaid. Sky has been giving some of the new material an airing during recent performances, including the track 'You're Not The One', which she played as part of a session for Newtown Radio.
It's hardly a secret that I'm a big supporter of L.A. singer Sky Ferreira. Thanks to her poster-girl looks, wry sense of humour and distinctive voice, she earned the backing of some of the world's best producers and seemed destined for success.
However, after a disorientatingstring of releases that bore little or no resemblance to one another, her debut album was 'postponed' indefinitely from its January release date and the outlook began to look a bit grim.
Thankfully, it seems Team Ferreira went back to the drawing board for a change of tack. The result is the succinct but spellbinding As If EP.
Opening track Sex Rules, written by Billy 'Like A Virgin' Steinberg, sounds like a 21st century update of Vanity 6's Nasty Girl, with Sky crooning about the merits of carnal knowledge over a backdrop of skittery electro flourishes.
Traces, a dub-influenced piano ballad (yes, really) co-written by Neon Hitch, has been doing the rounds for quite a while in demo form but sounds much better in high quality and is probably the track that best showcases Ferreira's voice.
Haters Anonymous, immaculately produced by the inimitable Bloodshy & Avant, is a tongue-in-cheek attack on anonymous bloggers and internet 'haters'. An anthem for the Rebecca Blacks of the world, if you will.
99 Tears is a glitchy electropop number, written by Lily Allen collaborator Greg Kurstin, that echoes the vengeful ex-girlfriend sentiments of Allen's Smile.
108, another Bloodshy & Avant production, is an elegant robopop ballad in the vein of Sky's signature hit, One. Underpinned by cascading synths, colourful lyrics like "My secret lover is 108 / I know it sounds insane, it’s really ok / He's got a face that'll haunt you for a billion decades” are imbued with a quiet sadness thanks to Sky's deliciously deadpan delivery.
Lord knows I'm prone to over-excitement, but I genuinely think As If is on par with the best pop releases in recent years (Robyn's 2005 self-titled album springs to mind).
Self-proclaimed teen witch Sky Ferreira and her band of merry producer-type men are busy applying the final gloss to her debut album, which, if all goes to plan, will be one of the big pop records of 2011.
In the meantime, we can make do with her contribution to the recent Aeroplane album - a sultry disco-tinged number called 'Without Lies', with provocative innuendo-laden lyrics about how deceit helps keep life interesting.
I'll admit to being a tad underwhelmed by Sky Ferreira's Big Debut Single™ 'One' initially but, over the past few weeks, its nestled into my brain and set up residency there.
The Rankin-directed video is clearly pandering to those who see Ferreira as a style icon, looking like a shoot from a high-end glossy, with plenty of gratuitous hair-tossing:
A couple of days ago, a sneak preview of a glorious dubstep mix of the track by BAR9 surfaced. Utterly. Hooked.
After the video for Sky Ferreira's rather excellent '17' materialised, I assumed it was going to be her first single. Not so.
It seems the first official release from her forthcoming debut album will in fact be 'One'.
An understated mid-tempo electropop number that's certainly a change of pace from '17', the track bears the hallmarks of its producers Bloodshy & Avant.
I'm convinced that Sky is destined to make a major impression but, honestly, I don't think this track is 'commercial' enough to be the one that sets her up for the big time. Even so, it's made me even more eager to hear the album and what else she's cooked up with the saliva-inducing array of producers she's worked with.
It seems like ages ago that The Guardian's excellent 'New Band of the Day' feature brought Ms. Sky Ferreira into my world but, finally, it looks like her quest for global domination is afoot.
She's rumoured to have inked the most lucrative UK record deal of 2009 and has worked with a pick'n'mix of the world's best producers, so there's surely an element of pressure on the Californian 'it girl' to deliver. Her first stab at success comes in the guise of new single, '17'.
The song's lyrics, about a seventeen-year-old deviant, drinking in clubs and generally up to mischief, are presumably intended to shock but Lyndsay makes the point that this doesn't really have the same impact here as it does in Ferreira's homeland because of the drinking age.
There are a couple of other tracks in Sky's arsenal I prefer to '17' but I still think it serves as a pretty good introduction. I'm also glad those behind the scenes have managed to conserve some of her 'hipster' sensibilities, rather than trying to market her as some slinky pop princess. See for yourself:
Here's a few of Sky's other tracks worth checking out:
Pop heavyweight-in-waiting Sky Ferreira has wisely decided to give away her stunning cover version of Miike Snow's 'Animal' as a free download.
We've yet to hear a single track from her album (those on her Myspace are apparently some that didn't make the cut) but, considering the mouth-watering roster of producers she's worked with, expect her to lay a claim to the 2010 Pop Princess tiara.
The Sky Ferreira campaign seems to be gathering momentum, with more and more tracks trickling through every few weeks.
She's been working with a variety of top producers producers including Bloodshy & Avant, Paul Epworth, Greg Kurstin and The Shoes, giving rise to a decidedly eclectic output.
Two tracks that she worked on with hotly-tipped producer and remix artist Skeet Skeet have now come into circulation.
'Happy Dre' artfully fuses The Beatles' 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' with Dr. Dre's 'Still Dre', sounding considerably less shoe-horned than you might expect:
Meanwhile, 'Stand Back' is a souped-up version of Stevie Nicks' classic track. Hardcore Stevie fans probably won't appreciate it but I have no qualms about embracing it:
After a string of supposedly unauthorised leaks, Parlophone has officially unveiled a track from the forthcoming album from 'it-girl' turned popstar Sky Ferreira.
Written by Radioclit and Nicole Morier, 'Lolita' is a fun track, drenched in sass, that should help fuel the mounting buzz around the seventeen-year-old singer.
You can hear another relatively new track, 'Femme Fatale', over on Sky's Myspace.
I've wanted to post about rising star Sky Ferreira for a while but there's always been one fairly significant hurdle to overcome: the girl has no songs.
The 16-year-old model and singer from L.A. has had all manner of music industry elite fawning over her but the only chance the general public have had to hear what all the fuss is about has been a guest spot on The Shoes' remix of The Virgins' track 'Teen Lovers' (which essentially just involves some breathy counting on Sky's part...)
Although we'll have to wait another while to hear what she's been cooking up in the studio with superstar producers Bloodshy & Avant, a couple of slightly incredible cover versions have started to crop up online.
The tracks have been perfectly selected, the first being a cover of Miike Snow's indie-pop anthem 'Animal', completely pared back to just piano and Sky's staggeringly mature-sounding vocal:
I know, right? Amazing.
Next up is an interpretation of Ellie Goulding's 'Wish I Stayed', presumably recorded during one of her sessions with the song's writer Frankmusik. Using the same backing track, Sky's version isn't a drastic departure from the original but is a pretty stonking rendition nonetheless.
Sky Ferreira: coming to a 'Tips for 2010' feature near you.
