In the upcoming erotic drama “Babygirl,” Nicole Kidman plays a CEO inexorably drawn to the power plays of her intern, played by Harris Dickinson. The film is very raunchy, but its heart is about control – how we exercise it, who we give it up to, and how it limits and expands who we think we are.

Sky Ferreira can understand. His new single “Leash” plays over the film’s closing credits, a tantalizing, grunge electro-rock single. But the film’s depiction of the allure and damage done when someone wields power over you has echoes in Ferreira’s career.

Last year, the singer finally parted ways with her longtime label, Capitol, after a decade of trying to complete and release a new album, the aptly titled “Masochism,” which would be her first since the well -loved 2013’s “Night Time, My Time.”

Despite landmark singles like “Everything Is Embarrassing” and a vibrant film career in “Twin Peaks: The Return” and “Baby Driver,” Ferreira said Capitol has not provided resources and will not release his new music. “I want to post this,” she wrote on a song clip on Instagram. “I’m not a hysterical/lying/lazy fool. This is beyond crazy. I’m so frustrated and I’m done with it. (A Capitol representative declined to comment).

His struggles with his label even prompted his fans to fund a billboard in Times Square pleading to “Free Sky Ferreira.” Her latest single, 2022’s “Don’t Forget,” doesn’t spare the situation: “Big dreams, sick dream, I thought God is in us all,” she sings. “Keep this in mind, no one here is a friend of mine.”

The singer spoke to The Times about writing the music for “Babygirl” (out on Christmas Day), how she made peace with a decade of lost music and whether “Masochism” will ever be worth it at the end.

Learn more:Nicole Kidman on Filming ‘Birth’ and Why She Chooses Movies That Aren’t a ‘Soothing Bath’

“Babygirl” feels like a throwback to the ’90s erotic thriller. What aspects of this power dynamic did you connect to as a songwriter for “Leash”?

I found myself really frustrated with Nicole Kidman’s character, with both of them, with everyone in the movie. I tried to think about why I reacted this way. When you’re frustrated with a movie, it’s usually something you recognize in yourself. I think it was the sharing of that kind of chaos, the push and pull between them.

I don’t consider this a love story in any way, and all the sex stuff was pretty secondary. I’m such a fan of Nicole, of “Birth” and “Eyes Wide Shut” and her performances in those films. It’s so everywhere, the tension is so agonizing. What I found most provocative about “Babygirl” was the willingness to ruin everything, and the contradictions and recklessness of the power struggle between them. I think that was kind of what I wanted sometimes, and that’s what really stuck with me.

You’ve played horror roles with Eli Roth and starred in “Twin Peaks: The Return.” Does this presence in more avant-garde genre cinema offer something unique that complements your music?

Certainly. Obviously I’m very influenced by David Lynch, my first album owes its name to something from his films. And a lot of my imagery and music was on the darker side of things. I feel like there are so many things holding hands (in culture) today, and I’m more interested in the things that lie beneath the surface. Not just emotionally, but also on the ugly side of things, where there’s also some humor.

I would love to do a full film score if the right thing came to me, like what Aimee Mann did with Paul Thomas Anderson for “Magnolia.” This would give me the structure to fully enter into it.

You’re a notorious perfectionist when it comes to your own records. Was it refreshing or intimidating to write to someone else’s deadline?

A bit of both. I don’t have a manager and I’m not rolling in money, and people don’t realize what to write about something like that. I’d never worked that fast before, but we had to submit it for a film festival, and it was intimidating to think, “Oh my God, people are going to hear this thing, and it’s not even done.” But I had to let it go, because it was my job.

Have there been any lessons on how to move forward, given all the music you’ve tried to make and release since 2013? You’ve released a few singles like “Don’t Forget,” but you’ve said you’ve recorded nearly 10 albums of shelved material.

I will never have the ideal version of everything I want in my life. But there’s also one thing where I’m going to bleed out, and it still won’t go away. I’m so precious with music, because once it’s out there, I have no control over what happens to it. And it’s like, “Well, if I’m going to do this, I’d rather it be exactly what I want,” so I just keep pushing for that.

I kind of had to accept that the position I was placed in wasn’t at all what I wanted. I’m still very angry about it and it’s definitely affecting me. But there came a point where I had to accept it because I can’t buy back 10 years of my time. But at least I could try to compensate as much as possible with what I earn.

Have you ever struggled with being so well known for the challenges of your label and this fractured image of your personal life?

There’s a lot of things that get projected onto me because I don’t let a lot of people know me. This has always been projected onto my work and it has literally affected every aspect of my life. There’s this weird thing where some people feel like they’re seeing a ghost or something, an idea of ​​mine that was very sensational, but also very retrospective, things that were said that were just crazy and inappropriate . I had to understand how this was affecting me more than I thought.

With the billboard, at least they acknowledge that I’m actually trapped in this damn thing. It’s not just me that’s causing this, my perfectionism or whatever. It sounds crazy, but actually it’s like, “Oh my God, she wants to do something good?” How horrible, how insane!

I can at least say that I didn’t give up. I’m willing to humble myself to a certain extent quite often, because the artists I looked up to growing up aren’t usually easy people. They actually lived a life, not just what is presented as a public life. I wanted something for myself that I know I made myself, and I’d rather do it and have it take forever and lose everything.

Learn more:“Hey man, are you okay?” »: inside the troubled life of Liam Payne after One Direction

You said Capitol let you go in an email on the 10th anniversary of “Night Time, My Time.” Do you feel freer now?

Yes and no. To a certain extent, I feel free to break away from this label, but it’s as if when you come out of prison, you have to relearn everything a little. What did I really learn from this? What am I stuck with? If I say something, will everything be ripped away from me? Or am I too suspicious and worried about this happening again?

If and when “masochism” comes out, how will it feel to finally part with this thing?

I wonder what it will look like. Will my eyes bleed? Will my brain explode and literally burst into flames? But I don’t feel like I’m being dragged down, I don’t feel like I’m like, “Oh, I wish I’d done that instead.” I feel like it’s a part of me, but I don’t blame myself. I don’t like circumstances and people that haven’t allowed me to have that natural progression that most artists have.

I don’t regret what I did musically. Ultimately, what you do is what sticks. If this is true for you, then it will be true for others too. It’s changed so much sonically because my life keeps changing. When I get past the “what could have been” or “what should have been,” I say to myself, “Well, I guess that’s what it’s going to be.” »

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This story was originally published in Los Angeles Times.