Scottish saxophonist Raymond MacDonald recently released his first solo album Desire Lines; however, as he claims, “Even a solo is social.” Recorded in March 2023 in a singular session in Glasgow, MacDonald describes it as “bubbly and unplanned”, produced alongside his friend Richard Youngs, who also recorded, mixed, and mastered the album. The concept behind Desire Lines also arose in collaboration: MacDonald’s approach to this debut solo album was inspired by a Scottish photographer he had worked with, Mhairi Muir, who’s photography exhibition at The Lillie Gallery in Milng around 2018 also explored the creative aspects of desire lines. MacDonald describes the concept of desire lines as “an unplanned path, often a short cut, that appears because of erosion by feet, hooves, or paws, in parks and fields and mountains and beaches.” This then lead him to consider “saxophone lines – melodies, textures, and sounds that might also be both desired and unplanned.” This approach to his album is inventive and inviting, because who doesn’t feel compelled to explore their desires that go beyond the marked path?
The concept of desire lines creates an experimental experience within the album. The first track, “Desire Line 1”, is played in one single breath. MacDonald wanted to explore “what happens sonically when you push your body to one particular limit.” This track, 20:45 minutes in duration, is intriguing and exquisite. It’s a patchwork of pacing and repeated sequences of notes, making the listener feel as if they’re jumping across a page of meticulous doodles. It’s feverish yet enjoyable in its perseverance, even as it begins to dip around the 16 minute mark. In this track, MacDonald’s intention in cutting a new audible path is tangible and gripping, making it difficult to tear yourself away from. The rawness of the song is encapsulated in the ending when MacDonald is heard laughing, having discovered where the limit exists.
“Desire Line 2” was recorded immediately after the first, surely exhausting, track. It’s played on soprano and begins with two scales which are evocative of a Scottish tune. MacDonald wrote of those coupled scales: “I try to follow their lead as they take me on an otherworldly reel around the mountain.” This track, establishing itself in the Scottish influence from which nearly all aspects of the album were born, is in a higher and narrower range, but reflects some of the aspects of the previous track. MacDonald can be felt searching a landscape as he plays, less breathless and fervent than before, but still totally immersed in the experience.
For the third and final track, “Desire Line 3”, MacDonald gives us an image to work with. He writes that he wanted to explore the sounds considered to be “artefacts of the ‘pure tone’ of the saxophone – columns of air passing through the instrument with beads of condensation bouncing off the inside of the horn while the harmonics whistle.” The track begins gritty but quickly progresses into MacDonald’s characteristic tones. The pacing is slightly slower but most interesting to this track is, if you listen closely enough, the short breaths that fill the silence between notes. Combined with his highly visual description, this track provides the experience of being in the room with the player, watching as he works the instrument to make the sounds come to life.
As someone new to the instrument, I found this album to be totally compelling, significantly enhanced by the descriptions provided by MacDonald about each track. Conceptually, it felt unique but also completely sensical for a solo instrumental album. MacDonald, as a Music Psychology and Improvisation professor at the University of Edinburgh, is clearly drawing on this repertoire as his techniques are skilled and immersive, and his understanding of the themes within which he’s working is evident in each track, reflecting all the complex feelings of exploration.