Album: Night Time, My Time
Year: 2013
. . .
Sky Ferreira’s debut album, Night Time, My Time, was originally scheduled to come out in 2011, but when the preview singles basically stiffed, everybody got cold feet, and it was shelved.
Which seems like a good thing, because those early singles were basically assembly-line early aughts dance-pop, whereas Night Time, My Time is . . . something different. It’s still pop, but the best songs add a fuzzy stew of overdriven guitars in the middle of all of the synths.
And the opening track, “Boys,” sets it all up.
At first, it’s just Ferreira singing over a quiet, burbling synth.
Boys, they’re a dime a dozen
Boys, they ain’t doin’ nothin’
For me any longer
Might be getting stronger
Then, with a drum machine drum roll, the guitars and the beat kick in, and “Boys” gets going.
Boys, a lot of women love you
But boys, they just make me mad
All the little things that you do
Ain’t gonna make me sad
“Boys” has this thing where it stops and starts and starts and stops, almost at will, but it also has a glorious almost girl-group chorus that is at turns massive and gorgeous, with Ferreira’s voice muttering “I knew it was you, I knew it” in the background
Then I knew it was you all along (I knew it was you, I knew it)
I knew it was you all along (I knew it was you, I knew it)
Suddenly, I knew there was love (I knew it was love, I knew it)
Then I knew it was you all alongYou put my faith back in boys
Back in…
What’s kind of cool is that alternates a million Ferreira overdubs singing “then I knew it was you” with a dreamy solo “all aloooooooooooooong”.
Add to all of this a bridge that kinda sounds like The Jesus and Mary Chain circa Automatic and an ending that breaks up the chorus in a million different ways, and you have one helluva eternal pop song.
Except of course, it never went anywhere. Nor did Night Time, My Time, for that matter, despite massive critical acclaim, it only topped out at #45 on the Billboard album charts. And while Ferreira has continued to record — mostly with other people — there hasn’t yet been a follow-up.
“Boys”
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