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Early adulthood is often a time of musical awakening, of voracious record collecting and research into musical influences of influences of influences.
Listening to the debut album from 21-year-old singer/songwriter Sky Ferreira is like thumbing through her record collection: the Jesus and Mary Chain, Suicide, Fiona Apple, the Pretty In Pink soundtrack, Robyn. What’s remarkable is how well she and producer Ariel Rechtshaid have distilled these influences into her own sound, balancing distortion-drenched rock and shoegazey detachment with sparkling radio-tuned vocals.
After signing a major label deal and releasing a handful of big shiny pop tunes as a teen, Ferreira hit her stride last year with minimalist single Everything Is Embarrassing. Night Time, My Time picks up on that confessional tone she’s often a bundle of insecurities, vacillating between defeat and empowerment on fraught songs like Nobody Asked Me (If I Was Okay) and I Blame Myself. Her hooks, however, are as appealing and direct as they come.
Top track: I Blame Myself
