THE Dowling Poole is a new a new psychedelic pop project from Honeycrack's Willie Dowling and Cardiacs' Jon Poole, whose debut album, Bleak Strategies, was released in August.

The two singers, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists are mounting a five-date tour in support of a record that has been funded through a PledgeMusic initiative, for which the duo's fans came together to help to finance it.

Dowling and Poole have earned solid reputations as writers, session musicians and producers, recording and touring with various acts. After the break-up of Honeycrack in 1998, Dowling moved into writing music for film and television, working with Steve Coogan, Armstrong & Miller, Rob Brydon, Julia Davies, Sir Derek Jacobi, Stephen Fry, Simon Pegg, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.

Dowling was also a member of The Grip and Jackdaw4, while Poole was a mainstay of Cardiacs for ten years and remains the bass player in the Wildhearts/Ginger Wildheart line-up. The pair first met in 2011 when recording and producing Ginger Wildheart’s 555% album.

The Dowling Poole finds them making power-pop music with echoes of XTC, Blur, 10CC and Squeeze, as can be heard in the live session they are recording for Marc Riley's BBC 6Music show in Manchester over the next fortnight, along with two extra tracks for Gideon Coe's show.

Bleak Strategies is available through 369 Records.

The Dowling Poole, Fulford Arms, Fulford Road, York, September 14, 8pm, 8pm. Tickets cost £7 online at thefulfordarms.co.uk or on the door.