Sky Ferreira on writing her new song ‘Leash’ from ‘Babygirl,’ Oscar buzz, and why she owes everything to her fans
It’s been a long road back to music for singer-songwriter Sky Ferreira, but the newly independent artist is back with a brand new single titled “Leash” from the upcoming film “Babygirl.” The film by Halina Reijn stars Golden Globe nominee Nicole Kidman as a high-powered CEO who puts her career and family on the line when she begins a torrid affair with her much-younger intern (Harris Dickinson).
The movie opens Dec. 25 and is receiving plenty of awards buzz, including Ferreira’s “Leash,” which has been submitted for Best Original Song. The artist tells Gold Derby, “I didn’t process it for like two-and-half-days,” after A24 submitted her for the 2025 Oscars. “It just never seemed like that would be a reality for me. It’s pretty f—ing insane. I don’t have a manager. Six months ago I was like, ‘What am I gonna do with my life?’ I was in a full crisis.” Watch the video interview above.
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Ferreira has had a public fallout with Capitol Records, the label that signed her when she was just 14 years old. The now 32-year-old was finally dropped after years of being silenced, and she credits fans for helping her emerge from that negative period of her life.
“I wouldn’t have been able to get out of the situation I was in without my fans,” she says. “For so long, I was the only person trying to get out of this thing for years. It felt like I was yelling into a void until my fans got involved. They were so proactive about it, it put the pressure on [Capital Records] to finally drop me. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to even be involved in a project like this.”
SEE ‘Babygirl’ trailer: Harris Dickinson makes Nicole Kidman get on her knees
Ferreira is now an independent artist, and Reijn reached out to the singer to ask if she’d be willing to submit a song for “Babygirl.” She admits, “I assumed they had a lot of people pitching songs. I get approached to license my music, but I never get approached to write a song for a film, so I was pretty excited.”
When asked to write a conventional power ballad for the movie, Ferreira says, “I actually don’t really know what that means. What is a power ballad in 2024? So I was coming up with something that sounded a little more retro, and it just escalated into something completely different.”
Instead, Ferreira worked off of the “synth line” and “the bass” from the film to come up with a more uptempo, edgy melody for “Leash,” which she co-wrote with Jorge Elbrecht. Lyrically, she explains, “I’ve been on a leash for a very long time.” She adds that she related to Kidman’s character and “being trapped within yourself and being self-destructive.”
The song was written, recorded, mixed, mastered and ready for the film in just over two weeks. “It was good pressure,” she explains. “It’s creative pressure. I work well under pressure. It helps me because I tend to hyper-focus on each detail and will keep doing it over and over again.”
Ferreira also goes into great detail about the “lawless” music industry, her emergence and struggles to work as an independent artist, and the upcoming music video fans can expect for “Leash.”
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