Album Review: Daniel Lanois, Goodbye To Language

There’s an exactly-what-it-says-on-the-tin quality to Goodbye To Language, as it excels as a form of wordless expression. Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise, given the Canadian’s track record as a producer, that tones and melodies would get his point across: along with frequent collaborator Brian Eno, he is truly in the vanguard of ambient music.

Built with nothing but lap steel and pedal steel guitars, this extraordinary piece of work perfectly combines soothing repetition with choppy whirlwinds and unexpected turns. ‘Deconstruction’ comes on like the soundtrack to a spiritual epiphany, while ‘Time On’ lends the album a darker, unnerving edge. Close your eyes and listen to the record through, and you could be transported anywhere, from the nose of an airplane in flight to the edge of a wind-beaten cliff, or the bottom of the sea. From electronic lulls to bird-like twitters, Lanois goes beyond spoken language to explore universal sounds, which are completely open to personal interpretation.