Last month, Sky Ferreira fans who run a social media campaign dubbed “Free Sky Ferreira” bought a digital billboard in Times Square emblazoned with their titular demand. The group believes Ferreira has been “held hostage by her label Capitol Records for almost a decade” and blames the label for “blocking” the release of Masochism, her sophomore album that’s been teased since 2015. Yesterday, that same fan-run campaign paid a plane to fly over Capitol Records with a banner that read “Free Sky Ferreira.” 

Ferreira has shown her support for the group by liking and commenting on their social media posts. In August, she shared the Times Square billboard post in an Instagram story and added the caption “It’s true.” During one of her concerts back in June, she held up a fan-made sign onstage that read “Free Sky Ferreira” as well. Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Ferreira and Capitol Records for comment.

Last year, Ferreira returned with her most recent single, “Don’t Forget,” marking her first song since the 2019 one-off “Downhill Lullaby.” In January of this year, she posted a snippet of new music on her Instagram with the caption “I WANT TO PUT THIS OUT.” She then took to Instagram stories to post several statements about the “beyond fucked up” situation, claiming “LOOK AT THE DATE. 2019. I TRIED TO PUT OUT THIS SONG FOREVER AGO.” She continued:

I am not a hysterical/lying/lazy lunatic. I can pull up performances from 2014 of unreleased singles too. This is beyond fucked up. I am so frustrated & over it…Being “difficult” or “high strung” doesn’t give people the right to damage & stall my career. I am in a DIFFICULT situation & I have to be “difficult” to get through it. I have to protect my work & myself somehow? A lot of it is not being allowed to say or do anything I want/need without it being dismissed. The thing I actively tried to avoid happens & it somehow gets reversed. I can’t think of a time in the last 7 years where I’ve been able to just focus on what I’m supposed to do & my work being presented the way I want it to or my shows being the way one needs it to be to be perform & play well. Despite having to basically sacrifice every aspect of my life to make sure it happens & the amount of time/work I put into everything beforehand. It’s not okay. If I’m not allowed to say something without consequence & the people who are supposed to do their job refuse to look out for me… How am I not going to be “difficult”?!?

Following a string of summer concerts, Ferreira recently announced she’s going back on tour this fall, with stops scheduled in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and more. A release date for the follow-up to her 2013 debut Night Time, My Time has yet to materialize. In 2019, she teamed up with Charli XCX for “Cross You Out” from the British pop star’s album Charli.

Read about “Downhill Lullaby” at No. 93 on Pitchfork’s list “The 100 Best Songs of 2019.”

Sky Ferreira Returns