It's been eight years since Scott Kannberg, aka Spiral Stairs, released any new music. The Pavement guitarist and Preston School Of Industry leader's 3rd album arrived in 2009, just as Pavement were announcing a hugely successful burst of reunion shows through 2010. His second album as Spiral Stairs, Doris And the Daggers, is worth the wait. Its some of the best music Scott's been involved with, and also some of the most personal and emotional music he's ever written, reflecting the life changes that occurred over those eight years. During that stretch, Scott weathered the loss of friends, treasured the joys of fatherhood, lived life as an Australian and even ate haggis meat - experiences that inform these warm, sweetly melodic and soundly honest songs. Long-time low-end foil Matt Harris returned on bass duties, while the drum-stool was adopted by Broken Social Scene's Justin Pero. The trio cut 30 songs in all, while a number of Scott's close musical friends stepped in to make some key contributions. Pero's Broken Social Scene cohort Kevin Drew sang on "Emoshuns," Kelley Stoltz lent guitar to the summery chime of "AWM," and The National's Matt Berninger lends vocals to the bittersweet "Exiled Tonight."