Last year, Sky Ferreira’s sole album Night Time, My Time turned 10. Since 2015, she’s been teasing its follow-up Masochism, then addressed the delay last year, which led to a “Free Sky Ferreira” banner flying over her label Capitol Records’ building. Now, she’s returning to release a new song for the upcoming Halina Reijn-directed A24 film Babygirl, and told Vogue more about the situation with Capitol.

“Leash” is co-produced by Jorge Elbrecht and it’s her first track since 2022’s “Don’t Forget.” It’s her first independent release since Capitol dropped her in late 2023. Reijn reached out to Ferreira about doing a song for Babygirl, which stars Nicole Kidman as a CEO who has a sultry affair with her intern. “That character is very self-destructive and destructive with other people’s lives, but she kinda has to go through this whole experience for the sake of growing as a person,” Ferreira explained. “I think that’s why I connected to the material so much, even though my circumstances are so different from the world of the film.”

About Capitol dropping her, Ferreira said:

They waited until the 10-year anniversary of Night Time, My Time to drop me via an automated message that got forwarded to me. And it was a weekend! After months of not hearing back from them! It was pretty — I’m still trying to figure out the words I can use to talk about it that won’t get me in trouble. But I also don’t really care about getting in trouble, because what else can they really do to me at this point? My relationship with them was obviously a bit fraught, and it’s never been very simple to explain. But to let me know I’ve been dropped from the label in such an impersonal way was clearly so personal.

It was their way of saying: “You can have fans write ‘Free Sky’ in the clouds with an airplane, but we still own you.” They kept me from putting out new music for 10 years as a way of making me look like I’m incapable of it, like it was my fault that I don’t technically own anything I record. I was already dreading the 10-year anniversary of my album because it’s sad. I should be able to celebrate something like that because as long as this album has been around, people still care about it. I’m able to do a song for an A24 film after all this time because that album clearly meant something to people, and I am proud of that. But it shouldn’t have to remind me of another year of being trapped in a mess that I didn’t create. They want me to look responsible by dragging it out and blocking me from releasing music even after already being blocked from so many other opportunities because of them.

When asked if she’s able to share any of the music she recorded while she was signed to Capitol, she answered:

I can’t right now, even though I was the one who paid for all of my studio sessions. I’m working to try and get some of those songs back, but I’m not getting every single one. It’s such a complicated process and I have to figure out how to do all this shit by myself now. People keep telling me I should just re-record the songs and it’s like, yeah, Taylor Swift can do that because she’s a billionaire, but I basically put all the money I’ve ever made as an artist back into making music. I think most musicians I know generally pay to work. But 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. Because that’s another thing, Capitol would’ve never let me do something like this Babygirl song.

Ferreira also said that for the release of “Don’t Forget,” the label wouldn’t allow her to do interviews. “I had to sneak around them to do like two interviews, and I got in huge trouble for it,” she explained. “I wasn’t even allowed to take press photos, which is fucking crazy. It’s such blatant sabotage, but it’s also a way to make it look like I’m a lost cause so that by the time I was free, no one would want to work with me.”

Will we hear Masochism soon? “I sure hope so,” she said. “It’s just a matter of getting all my stuff back, which is fucking crazy. I don’t even know who to talk to at the label anymore. For all I know, the people at Capital now could be really nice. I feel like they don’t even really know what’s going on, because I think most of the people at Capitol who threw me under the bus are long gone. They got dropped too, which is honestly a bit funny.” About her independence, she said, “It feels liberating, but I’m honestly still angry about the situation.”

The singer also discussed auditioning for a Madonna biopic, which required 11-hour days of rehearsals with a choreographer. “I sat in one of [Madonna’s] guest rooms to read the script, then she took me downstairs into her bedroom and did my makeup and put her clothes on me,” she expounded. As for shows, she said she’ll be doing more in 2025. “Leash” arrives on Thursday (Dec. 5), and there will be a music video as well. Read the full interview here.

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