Sky Ferreira
On Sunday, Sky Ferreira performed her first of three shows at the Independent in San Francisco. Â I unfortunately missed Cherry Glazer, but heard they were great. Â This review is only about Sky Ferreira's performance, which exceeded all expectation.
It's hard to categorize Ferreira's music when listening to Night Time My Time, the 2013 album, that is her primary release. Â One could say that she's electro-pop, because she uses synths and keyboards and has some tracks such as "I Blame Myself" and "You're Not The One" that are pretty straightforward, if quite interesting. Â But electro-pop is a very production-centric style, and often does not put vocals at the forefront. Â Ferreira's lyrics are not incidental to her music and her voice is at times quite strong on the record, live its even stronger.
Live, Ferreira's music gains even more texture and her voice is consistently powerful. Â Dressed in an almost full length winter coat with a faux-fur lined hood, Ferreira and her band wasted no time once on stage, dimming the lights and immediately jumping into "24 Hours" followed by "Boys," which was sung with particular force. Â The chorus was belted out and a particular accent was placed on the idea that the subject "put [her] faith back in boys." Â
There is a paradox in Ferreira's music that's well illustrated in her performance of Boys and the song itself. Â The song uses language, such as titling the person who you're writing a love song for a "boy" that suggests youth for all participants involved. Â But the sincerity and the brooding, darkness of the track stands in stark contrast to the sometimes pop-star friendly lyrical ideas.
This paradox is at the heart of Ferreira's music, which makes her performance and album so interesting. Â She has a keen sense of pop music and can engage the audience with a hook, or a singable section of the chorus, such as the one on "I Blame Myself." Â But the darkness of the song production, the refusal to push the music to full on, radio friendly pop music, instead making it grungier and more new wave-y creates a very entertaining and formidable tension.Â
Because she only has one album, the performance was brief. Â But every song had life and added contours to the album versions of her songs. She performed a new song called "Guardian" and despite never hearing it previously, her powerful vocals and good arrangement, made the song stand out in one's memory,rather than recede when compared to the songs one already knew.
Other performance highlights included a stirring version of "Heavy Metal Heart." Â A song that's more of a Pat Benatar style ballad, but has fuzzy guitar work and a pounding drumbeat. Â Ferreira beautifully performed the song, engaging the entire audience in the emotion of the track. Â Her two penultimate songs were a deft combination of the sad, slower "Lost in My Bedroom" into the more rousing, intense, and definitively loud "You're Not The One." Â
The concert was really aided by Ferreira's band being really tight, which made the performance fuller and livelier, while still focusing the attention on Sky. Â The lights were an added bonus, they varied a great deal from song to song, and the color schemes and brightness contributed to the concert experience.Â
I am not sure what direction Ferreira is going to take her music. Â She could go more pop and make hookier music, or she could continue tailoring her pop sensibilities to other musical styles, melding them into her own creative vision. Â But her voice, her stage presence, makes one confident that regardless of the path she pursues, she'll be making affecting, interesting music well into the future. Â Go see her!








