If the Prince of 1984 — the artist who once wrote explicit B-sides about God and sex, and didn’t mind the two themes intertwined — equipped his purple motorcycle with a flux capacitor and made the present day his destination, His Royal Badness might have whipped up this saucy new number for Sky Ferreira. “Sex Rules,” with its come-on to “Use your God-given tools,” sits nicely next to Prince-penned numbers for Vanity 6 (“Nasty Girl”), Apollonia (“Sex Shooter”) and Sheena Easton (“Sugar Walls”).

Turns out a musician who was quite successful in the ’80s is, in fact, partly responsible for “Sex Rules,” a guy whose name will be familiar music geeks who follow such behind-the-scenes things. Ferreira co-wrote the song with Billy Steinberg, whose credits include such suggestive classics as Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” Pat Benatar’s “Sex As A Weapon,” and Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself,” in addition to such comparatively tame ballads like The Bangles’ “Eternal Flame” and Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors.”

Released late today, “Sex Rules” was produced by Greg Kurstin (Lily Allen, Kylie Minogue, Sia, and Shirley Manson’s unreleased solo LP). While a certain, um, directness about sex is currently all over the pop charts (as happens from time to time), and the subject matter of “Sex Rules” may not be new, there’s something refreshing about Ferreira as an artist. I hope this single’s performance (her fourth) finally measures up to her promising talent.

“Sex Rules” is the first single from Sky Ferreira’s five-song EP, As If!, (finally) coming March 22. It’s also soundtracking the relaunch campaign for ’90s unisex fragrance-turned-lifestyle-brand CK One, which features Ferreira.

Purchase Sky Ferreira – “Sex Rules” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.