Sky Ferreira
“Everything is Embarrassing”
Ghost (EMI, out 10/2)
Everybody knows that a brilliant hook is essential to a great pop song. But what separates a great pop song from a special one? The bridge: the most under-appreciated, overlooked, difficult-to-nail facet of a truly satisfying four minutes. The best middle 8’s dive headlong into the spotlight, snatching it away from the prima donna choruses that they are surrounded by. Most of the best pop tracks — Wham’s “Careless Whisper” & Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love to You” spring to mind — have barnstorming, explosive bridges that end up working like ancillary hooks, turning excellent songs into truly incredible ones.
Sky Ferriera’s new single isn’t quite one of those, but it’s certainly one of the best of the year, thanks largely to its gargantuan bridge. Like her model looks and public persona, “Everything is Embarrassing” is meticulously crafted, driven by a potent combo of breathy vocals, dear-diary lyrics, and razor-sharp production à la mode from Dev Hynes (Lightspeed Champion, Blood Oranges) and Ariel Rechtshaid (the dude who produced Usher’s “Climax”). After two seductive verses and a killer chorus, the track goes to another level thanks to an immense bridge, that sees the vocally-limited Angelino open it up a little and let her carefully styled blonde locks down. It’s not “BUT NOWWWW WHO’S GONNA DANCE WITH MEEEEE, PLEASE STAYYY,” life-affirming, but it’s not a million miles away.
