Benedict Sinister – ‘Ne Dramatise Pas (16 Lines from Bryan Ferry)’

Benedict Sinister makes no secret of who’s inspired him, but rather he makes citing his sources into an artform. His latest single, ‘Ne Dramatise Pas (16 Lines from Bryan Ferry)’, is an unabashed homage to adult alternative and chill house, as well as inumerable references to singers, writers, poets, and raconteurs.

With a name that’s itself a clever nod to Nabokov’s book, ‘Bend Sinister’, we are left in no doubt that Sinister is well-read and well-versed in popular culture. ‘Ne Dramatise Pas’, namechecks Baudelaire, Karl Lagerfeld, and Serge Gainsbourg, and is actually assembled from songs written by Bryan Ferry. He carefully attributes Ferry in the video notes, and the clip itself, a lyric video, contains footnotes, making it a wholly interactive experience: you listen, you watch, you stop to look up the references, and return; then repeat the whole process again.

On top of all this, the video features model Anastasiya Schlegova, who makes love to the camera, chewing up jus about every scene she’s in. There’s also a DJ in very very short shorts, and a nearly naked dancer, who wears mirror ball glasses and nipple covers. The video itself in this respect is yet another shout out to Ferry, who always went beyond the call of duty to pop a supermodel in a video, or on the cover of his albums.

With such an interesting video, you can expect there to be some drama attached, and indeed there is. Bella Thorne was apoplectic at missing a spot in the clip, although we do suspect there’s a little bit of tongue-in-cheekery here:

Regardless, there’s no doubt that Benedict Sinister is an artist to watch. You can find out more about the mysterious (and Sinister) Benedict on his official website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Stream ‘Ne Dramatise Pas (16 Lines from Bryan Ferry)’ on SoundCloud and Spotify.

About the author

Lisa has been writing for over 20 years, starting as the entertainment editor on her university newspaper. Since then she's written for Popwrapped, Maximum Pop, Celebmix, and ListenOnRepeat.

Lisa loves all good music, with particular fondness for Jedward and David Bowie. She's interviewed Edward Grimes (Jedward), Kevin Godley, Trevor Horn, Paul Young, Peter Cox (Go West), Brendan B Brown (Wheatus), Bruce Foxton (The Jam), among many many more. Lisa is also available for freelance writing - please email lisa@essentiallypop.com