Benedict Sinister’s latest single “Spitting Lines from Debbie Harry” mashes up quotes from the Blondie singer’s hits with a powerful revelation from her autobiography, FACE IT: “When I was dealing with depression / There was nothing better than heroin”
The video clip for the song starts with reference to the classic Blondie Parallel Lines cover, with Sinister dressed in white, surrounded by an all female band dressed in black. But the cool pose degenerates into a shambles of jostling, spitting, grimaces and syringes – like a punkie version of Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love, but with the models’ bodies covered with awesome slogans like “So passé” and “Spahn Ranch.”
Sinister’s face is covered throughout with metallic masks , due to his insistence on remaining ‘anonymous’ to draw more attention to the artists he pays homage to. Sinister says: “The mask plays havoc with my perm, but I got some great tips on how to maintain the body and shine, in my members-only “manufacturing dissent” Clubhouse chatroom with Joe Talbot, Jason Williamson, and slowthai. Cheers lads!”
“Spitting Rhymes from Debbie Harry” is sequel to Sinister’s first single “16 Lines from Bryan Ferry”, which used lines from 16 songs by septuagenarian art rock fixture Bryan Ferry arranged into rhyming verses. Los Angeles based DJs Miss Beltran and Christian B released lounge and club remixes – the latter making No 5 Breakout on the Billboard Dance Club chart.
The subject of “16 Lines From Bryan Ferry”? “What all real men strive for in life – the love of a bad woman.
