Producing legend steps behind the mic

Lanois is a producing legend

Daniel Lanois - the producer of some of the most highly-respected artists in the world, including U2, Bob Dylan and Peter Gabriel - has himself gone behind the microphone for the first time in 10 years.

His album Shine, which features U2 frontman Bono and Emmylou Harris, is only Lanois's fourth in a career in music that spans well over two decades at the top.

In that time he has produced a number of defining albums - such as U2's The Joshua Tree, Dylan's comeback Time Out Of Mind, and Harris's Wrecking Ball - but has remained comparatively unknown for his own work.

"I just had a feeling about these songs, and it's just fantastic to get my own music out," Lanois told BBC World Service's The Music Biz programme.

"I said to myself that I have a gift, and I'm driven by something that's brewing inside me, that's the best time to put out a record.

"I just had a feeling about it, and the feeling's still with me - after this little tour I'm going to go right back into the studio and try to have something out for next September."

Driving force

Lanois is known for bringing a remarkable range of sounds and emotions to recordings - he has also written scores for films including Sling Blade and The Million Dollar Hotel.

I become musical director - and one of the band members - when I produce a record Daniel Lanois

He said that he found there was a "mysterious driving force" in both his work and that of those he worked with - who also include Willie Nelson and another high-profile producer, Brian Eno.

"It's not anything you can really comprehend - I think if you try to understand it too much you might lose the fire," Lanois stated.

"It's just a burning feeling that some people have, and creation is an outlet for the feeling."

Lanois added that he secured the illustrious voices of Bono and Harris due to his friendship with the singers.

"Emmylou happened to be stopping at my house. I said 'Emmy would you do me a favour, just sing a little something on this for me?'," he said.

"Even though she had a cold, she said 'ok, let me give it a try.' Even in the presence of not feeling to good she did a great job, and that turned out to be the final take.

"With Bono we happened to be working in Dublin, and there was an invitation from Wim Wenders to write a song for his film [The Million Dollar Hotel], so that's how that came to be. We knocked it together in an afternoon."

Panoramic sound

Although Shine is one of the few times Lanois has worked on himself, he stressed that he was a "musician, not a producer".

Lanois masterminded Bob Dylan's late 1990s comeback album

Many of the records he has produced have featured him on guitar, for example.

"I become musical director - and one of the band members - when I produce a record," he said.

"Likewise with U2, I like to be The Edge's friend in the studio so that he doesn't have to be playing three parts at once."

Shine is noticeable for its panoramic sound - the trademark of Lanois.

"I have a song called Panorama - not on this record, but one that I'm playing live - and we do it with two instruments, and it sounds panoramic," he stressed.

"I used to think it was about layering and depth of feel, and how much can we stack together to get that sound.

"But I've changed my mind about that.

"I think it's just me - it's what I'm made of."