Producer Daniel Lanois, in Providence Friday, also produces his own kind of music

Daniel Lanois is best known as a music producer, helping to craft the sounds of U2, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris and more.

But he’s also released his own albums, such as “Acadie,” “For the Beauty of Wynona” and “Belladonna.”

His latest, “Flesh and Machine,” is an ambient record of soundscapes that range from the symphonic effects of “Two Bushas” to the guitar roar of “The End.”

“It’s not candlelight and wine by any means,” he said. “There’s a lot of anger and disappointment and emotion to it.”

Lanois comes Friday to Providence’s Columbus Theatre, where he will essentially bring the studio onto the stage, manipulating sounds via an eight-track mixing board.

“It’s like having eight band members on stage who are faceless,” he said. Along with Lanois will be drummer Brian Blade and a cinematographer. “It’s going to be a very dramatic, almost theatrical presentation,” Lanois said. “No night will be exactly the same.”

Lanois said he will be bringing his “old friend,” the steel guitar, which will also get its share of the spotlight, along with a few favorite songs such as “The Maker” and “The Messenger.”

He spoke by phone last week from his headquarters in Toronto, a former Buddhist temple equipped with two pool tables. While pool and Buddhism don’t seem to go together, Lanois said they both celebrate strategy and “the point of strike.”

Lanois said he started “Flesh and Machine” as a more conventional album, with songs, lyrics, melodies. But when he started adding production touches — “the toppings” — they became more interesting to him than the songs they were supposed to enhance.

He said he considers “Flesh and Machine” an extension of his work with ambient music pioneer Brian Eno in the 1980s. (The two also collaborated on several U2 albums, including “The Joshua Tree” and “Achtung Baby.”)

“There’s a line of connection, if not by the sound itself, at least by focus,” Lanois said. “The commitment is very similar. [Eno] came in with a very specific commitment to the ambient music idea. He was very focused. I was all over the place.”

Lanois hasn’t wholly abandoned the original songs he wrote for “Flesh and Machine.”

He feels he sounds better when he’s singing at a piano, especially an upright piano. To demonstrate, he performed a new song over the phone, called “Red,” a melancholy tale about an imprisoned smuggler singing about his girlfriend — she’s the “Red” of the title.

“There’s a little bit of Elvis in me,” Lanois said, referring to his lower register.

When it comes to producing music for others, Lanois has a very simple philosophy — he’s there to help.

“I prefer the word ‘collaboration.’ People quickly understand I’m committed to them,” Lanois said. “I enjoy helping people. I care about them ... people bring out the best in themselves when there’s someone around who cares about them.”

And if something’s not working, Lanois said, he’ll speak up, which doesn’t always happen around famous people.

“To borrow a phrase from Brian Eno, I pay attention,” Lanois said. “If it’s not happening, I will tell people the truth.”

Daniel Lanois will perform at the Columbus Theatre, 270 Broadway, Providence, on Friday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 day of show. To purchase tickets, go to daniellanois.brownpapertickets.com.