Flesh and Machine
(Anti-)
Daniel Lanois has long been thought of as an innovator. That’s particularly true of his work as a producer—his atmospheric, echo-drenched way with the electric guitar was key to U2’s breakthrough album The Joshua Tree. Of course, Lanois is a musician in his own right, and one of formidable talents.
With Flesh and Machine, Lanois has attempted to break new sonic ground. As he explains in the liner notes, “The little character that I created as the front cover image for this body of work represents that part of me that looks for sonics that have not been heard before. Countless hours were spent in my laboratory processing hand-played instruments and source vocals to build a symphonic blend of animal and human sounds.”
The results are often stunning, and never less than captivating. Vocal cries intertwine with guitars that are at times apocalyptic, at others subtle and atmospheric. Everything is shot through with unidentifiable instruments and noises that pulse and echo. The distant, moody textures seem to hail from some far-future incarnation of dub. It may not be possible to find sonic ground that truly hasn’t been explored, but it seems a sure bet that the many-layered tracks do add up to something unique.
Lanois has long collaborated with Brian Eno, and Eno’s body of ambient works is the closest musical cousin to Flesh and Machine. There are seldom clear melodic hooks; instead, the songs unfold via evolving textures and moods. As with Eno’s work, the music often feels like a soundtrack in search of a film. Lanois is capitalizing on that notion by soliciting film submissions to offer visual accompaniment to his work. He’s paired some songs with big-name filmmakers like Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) and Mary Harron (American Psycho), but has also gone in search of lesser-known filmmakers. The films will be part of Lanois’ upcoming tour, for which the album’s sounds will be recreated by a trio employing live sampling and processing.
