Daniel Lanois returns with Belladonna Nocturne, a 14-track sonic exploration arriving June 19, featuring Emmylou Harris, Brian Blade, Daryl Johnson and more, extending the ambient language first introduced on Belladonna.
by Paul Cashmere
Daniel Lanois has announced Belladonna Nocturne, a new full-length album arriving June 19 that continues his long-running exploration of ambient composition, studio-as-instrument production, and cinematic sound design.
The record features 14 original tracks composed and performed by Lanois, alongside guest appearances from Emmylou Harris, Brian Blade, Daryl Johnson and a circle of long-term collaborators who have shaped his career across four decades of influential recordings.
The announcement arrives alongside the release of the lead single Steel Mill, now available on streaming platforms. The track offers the first glimpse into what Lanois describes as an immersive sonic world built from layered instrumentation, shifting textures, and expansive tonal space.
Belladonna Nocturne will be released on June 19 and is presented as a thematic continuation of Lanois’ 2005 instrumental album Belladonna. The new project expands on that earlier work’s dreamlike structure, positioning itself as both sequel and reinvention. Lanois performs pedal steel, guitar, piano and dub-inspired orchestration across the album, while Brian Blade and Daryl Johnson contribute rhythm and harmonic grounding, with Emmylou Harris also appearing.
The first single Steel Mill introduces the album’s approach, combining rhythmic restraint with wide ambient space and subtle melodic phrasing.
Belladonna Nocturne sits in its alignment with Lanois’ broader artistic identity, one that has consistently blurred the line between production and composition. As a producer, he has helped define landmark recordings for U2, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris and Neil Young. As a solo artist, he has repeatedly returned to instrumental music as a form of expressive architecture.
This release continues that trajectory. Rather than functioning as a conventional song cycle, Belladonna Nocturne operates as a unified sound environment, a continuation of Lanois’ long-standing interest in mood, atmosphere and spatial recording techniques.
Belladonna Nocturne is composed entirely by Daniel Lanois and co-produced with Wayne Lorenz.
Tracklisting:
Cap Négre
At The Foot of The Skyway Bridge
Inside The Walls of Puebla
Snow Lake
Marionette
Canadian National
The Black Sea
Advent
Warp Sustain
The Crossing
Temple Drums
Steel Mill
Silver Orchestra 2
Early Days
Steel Mill features contributions from Jermaine Holmes on drums, Jim Wilson on bass, Lanois on piano and pedal steel, and dub orchestration handled by Lanois himself. The production places emphasis on spatial depth, with instruments often emerging from reverb-heavy environments rather than traditional front-facing mixes.
The album arrives as Lanois continues an active creative period following the release of Grace earlier in 2026, a reinterpretation of Amazing Grace featuring Aaron Neville. It also follows his return to Warner Music Group under a career-spanning licensing arrangement covering much of his catalogue, including Acadie, For The Beauty Of Wynona and Shine.
Lanois emerged in the 1980s as a defining force in modern production, first through collaborations with Brian Eno on ambient works such as Apollo: Atmospheres And Soundtracks, and then through a succession of landmark albums.
His production credits include U2’s The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, Peter Gabriel’s So and Us, Bob Dylan’s Oh Mercy and Time Out Of Mind, and Emmylou Harris’ Wrecking Ball, among many others. These records collectively reshaped mainstream rock and popular music production, introducing ambient space, natural reverberation and dynamic restraint into commercially successful albums.
His influence extended into soundtrack work and experimental composition, including Sling Blade and more recently Red Dead Redemption 2, where he contributed original compositions. Across his solo catalogue, from Acadie through Flesh And Machine and Player, Piano, Lanois has consistently pursued ambient structures that prioritise tone and atmosphere over conventional songwriting.
Belladonna Nocturne sits firmly within that continuum, revisiting ideas first explored two decades earlier while applying newer production techniques and collaborative approaches.
While Lanois is widely regarded as one of the most influential producers of his generation, his solo work has often been received in a more specialised context, appealing primarily to listeners attuned to ambient, experimental and instrumental forms.
Some observers have noted that his emphasis on texture and atmosphere can distance casual listeners expecting traditional song structures. Others argue that this separation is precisely the point, positioning his solo output as a distinct artistic practice rather than an extension of his production work.
Within industry circles, however, there is broad recognition of his sustained relevance. His ability to move between high-profile commercial production and deeply personal instrumental work remains uncommon among his peers, particularly at a time when many legacy producers are revisiting archive material rather than creating new work.
Belladonna Nocturne reinforces Daniel Lanois’ position as a composer of sonic environments rather than simply a producer of songs. With Steel Mill already offering a first entry point, the album extends a catalogue that has consistently resisted easy classification.
Daniel Lanois – Belladonna Nocturne Available June 19
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