Let me tell you something about Daniel Lanois.
Whether crafting ambient records with Brian Eno, making rock ‘n’ roll history with U2 and Peter Gabriel, digging into American roots with Bob Dylan and the Neville Brothers, scoring Oscar-winning films and blockbuster video games, or composing his own solo music, Daniel Lanois seems to always reinvent himself.
Now, the producer and songwriter is once again turning the page by moving back to Canada and launching the brand new Maker Series imprint out of his Toronto-based recording studio.
First up in the Maker Series is Heavy Sun, the soulful self-titled debut from Daniel Lanois and his invigorating new all-star band. Recorded in Los Angeles and Toronto, the album fuses classic gospel and modern electronics to create a sound that’s familiar yet boldly unexpected. It taps into the shared uncertainty of the human condition to offer hope, comfort and connection at a time when all three run in desperately short supply.
While Lanois may be best known for his production work on era-defining albums like The Joshua Tree, Wrecking Ball and Time Out of Mind, he actually grew up on organ records and gospel music. In the decades to come, Lanois would go on to become one of the most acclaimed studio gurus of the modern era. Rolling Stone declared that his “unmistakable fingerprints are all over an entire wing of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
Daniel Lanois joined us in the Gumbo Kitchen for a lengthy conversation about his incredible musical career. Listen to it below.
