Sky Ferreira reaches for her mic stand as though she intends to kill it, holds it in a white-knuckle grip and ascends into the monster chorus of 24 Hours. Amid the song’s grinding bass and crashing synths this brief movement is magnetic in a way that it shouldn’t be – a shot of pop-star presence given extra stakes by the false starts and tortuous diversions that have led her to this point.
It has been almost 11 years since Night Time, My Time introduced the then 21-year-old Ferreira’s blend of pillowy electro-pop and dead-eyed cool. Label spats and interminable delays have made the wait for its follow-up Masochism – originally planned for release at least two years ago – into a yawning chasm. (In November, it was reported that Ferreira and her label Capitol appeared to have parted ways.) True to form, while the name of that near-mythical album is emblazoned on T-shirts at the merch table, there’s no new material debuted here. Instead, there is a punishingly loud reintroduction to songs that feel like they have been kept in suspended animation.
Arriving on stage 45 minutes late – hanging around is part of the deal with Ferreira, it seems – her band immediately roughs up Boys with grimy, Nine Inch Nails-adjacent low end. She splits the difference between Andrew Eldritch and Debbie Harry in a leather duster and shades, beating her chest as Nobody Asked Me (If I Was Okay) surges with angst and distortion.
But there is a relatable brittleness running in parallel to her retro-chic style. You could idly take a photo at any moment during her truncated set and come away with a striking image, but it wouldn’t say as much as Ferreira asking for the spotlights to be switched off between songs, plunging the room into darkness, seemingly uncomfortable with their glare.
This tension is reflected musically, with flubs and restarts superseded by a fuzzed-out cover of ’Til Tuesday’s cult hit Voices Carry and the neon-lit spite of 2022 single Don’t Forget, punchy stadium high-gloss that bodes well for Masochism’s eventual arrival. When the house lights come up after her 2012 breakthrough single Everything Is Embarrassing, Ferreira retreats. She waves and messes her hair, emotion rising in her throat with each snatched thank you. What comes next, only she knows.
• Touring the UK until 5 April
