Canadian producer and musician Daniel Lanois, known for his atmospheric work on albums such as Emmylou Harris's Wrecking Ball and Bob Dylan's Time Out of Mind, has spoken about his career and creative philosophy in a new interview for Rolling Stone Music Now. Lanois argues that his contribution to records goes beyond sonic texture, emphasising the "soul" of a record over its sound, and reflects on collaborations with major artists including U2, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, D'Angelo, the Neville Brothers and Neil Young.

The interview centres on Lanois's new solo instrumental album, Belladonna Nocturne, which he describes as a collection of scene-based tracks evoking specific places, such as "At the Foot of the Skyway Bridge", inspired by his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario. He details his production technique of sampling elements from within a song, such as steel guitar, and building additional "dubs" and orchestral textures from those samples. Lanois also mentions recent touring with Micah Nelson (Willie Nelson's son) as part of the duo Particle/Lanois, whose forthcoming album is titled The Ocean Floor, and discusses upcoming tour dates in Canada and Scandinavia.