Player, Piano (2022)/ Lanois, Daniel

"Practically since his first solo release -- 1989's marvelous Acadie -- Daniel Lanois has had the freedom to pursue whatever muse stirs his imagination. His status as an iconic producer remains unrivaled, though it often overshadows a rich personal discography that has been reliably eclectic and occasionally quite moving. After revisiting the singer/songwriter format on 2021's Heavy Sun, Lanois heads back into more ambient territory with Player, Piano, an experimental yet surprisingly poignant collection of piano instrumentals. Better known for his atmospheric guitar work, Lanois takes similar care in his approach to the piano, manipulating and shaping the instrument's natural characteristics in subtle but effective ways. However, rather than building it into something futuristic and nearly unrecognizable like he did on 2016's spectral pedal steel opus Goodbye to Language, he turns back the clock with a deliberately vintage tone that harks back to the 1940s and '50s." (AllMusic)|