IRIS DOE, a new project from Jeffrey Cain of alt-rockers THE CHURCH, have just issued their debut single.
Cain has been a touring member of the Aussie hitmakers for a number of years, contributing guitar, bass and keyboards, but was promoted to full-time status when band founder reconfigured the line-up following the departure of Peter Koppes in 2019.
Beginning work on a new Church album in Australia at the start of 2020, Cain returned to the States for the duration of the pandemic, where he began working with ex-Jane's Addiction bassist Eric Avery, keyboardist Jebin Bruni (PiL) and drummer Leslie Van Trease.
A full album is in the works but the first fruit of the sessions is the single 'The Times', a slice of darkly elegant pop walking a velvet tightrope between neo-goth and modern psych. The b-side is a version of much-loved Oregon psych punks Dead Moon's 'A Miss Of You', recorded on the night in 2017 that the band's guitarist/vocalist Fred Cole passed away.
“Dead Moon’s music changed me from the very first listen," says Cain. "I was caught completely off-guard by Fred’s death and I really just wanted to be alone and sing his songs that night. I had my guitar, a slide and an ebow in the room and that dictated the song's simplicity. Out of respect for Dead Moon and the band's devout fans, I didn’t want to release it without the approval of his wife and bandmate, Toody. I was shocked when I received an email from her saying how much she loved hearing Fred’s words again. She thought the song was beautiful and I had her complete blessing.”
'The Times' is available to stream/download here.
Pic by Maxine Thompson