Scott Kannberg is quite notorious on Planet Indie, being Pavement guitarist and band leader of cult band Preston School Of Industry and all that. It took eight years – since 2009’s The Real Feel – before Kannberg has made a record with his solo project Spiral Stairs. Life had its own plans: Kannberg and his wife moved to the Brisbane area in Australia. After his daughter was born, it seemed for a moment that Kannberg would fully embrace life as a family man. Yet the blood is thicker than water: Kannberg moved out of boredom to Los Angeles, and then suddenly, here came all the incentives to pick up the guitar again.

Initially Kannberg wanted to record his new album in a week out in Seattle, haphazardly, just like the good old days. But about a  month prior, he learned that Darius Minwalla, his buddy and drummer of Preston School Of Industry, passed away in his sleep. With input from musician Kelley Stoltz and guest appearances by Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene) and Matt Berninger (The National) Doris and The Daggers suddenly got a new creative twist. It’s become a melancholic, sentimental record reflecting back on the past eight years: the happiness of fatherhood and the sadness of loss. But especially a charming ode to those who have crossed Kannberg’s path during his stay in Brisbane.

Fortunately, we don’t have to go all the way to Brisbane to go see Spiral Stairs play, because we have Kannberg and band right here!