At just over two minutes long, ‘Double Agent Working Alone’, from John Dredge & The Balcony Shirts Band, is an absolute corker of a song. A guitar pop homage to the spy thrillers of the 1960s, it’s catchy, quirky, and a whole lot of fun.
‘Double Agent Working Alone’ comes with an equally quirky music video, shot in black and white, which evokes the likes of ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’, and maybe more than a hint of ‘Get Smart’. Dredge plays the titular double agent, resplendent in suit and pork pie hat, who writes a mysterious secret message in lemon juice (possibly having learned this from ‘The Knowhow Book of Spycraft‘). He leaves it hidden somewhere in a telephone box, to be discovered by his partner in espionage. We won’t reveal what the secret message is – you’ll have to wait until the end!
There’s a mysterious multi-storey car park in the clip, whose purpose seems only to serve as background – and, I suppose, because these sorts of car parks always feature in spy dramas.
John Dredge & The Balcony Shirts was formed when singer/lyricist John Dredge met guitarist/producer and shop owner Scott Balcony in the Balcony Shirts garment printing and embroidery shop, deep in the heart of Uxbridge. The rest of the band, bassist Chris Taylor, additional guitarist Leigh Heggarty, and drummer Bob Burgons were quickly recruited from the shop staff, so there’s no shadow of a lie in the band’s name, they’re quite literally a band from Balcony Shirts! The new single was also actually recorded in the store, despite frequent interruptions from customers (how dare they!).
‘Double Agent Working Alone’ is out today, and can be streamed and downloaded here. Visit Balcony Shirts here.
Watch the video for ‘Double Agent Working Alone’ below:
The Balcony Shirts shop site https://www.balconyshirts.co.uk/
