Saxophonist-composer Donny McCaslin is determined to move way beyond conventional concepts of jazz,  jazz-rock fusion, or any label you want to ascribe to his music. Just when we didn’t think his music could be louder and more rock-influenced than I Want More (Edition, 2023),  he kicks it up a couple of notches with Lullaby for the Lost (Edition, 2025). The fearless McCaslin ventures even deeper into uncharted territory, as it’s fair to say, no one else is charting this primal, guitar-driven, loud-as-live course. McCaslin points to such guideposts as Neil Young, Nine Inch Nails, and Rage Against the Machine. In a sense, however, this is a natural development for the man who played a pivotal role in David Bowie’s Black Star (Iso/Columbia, 2015) with the music borrowing from that experience to become both sonically and emotionally hard-hitting.

McCaslin recorded Lullaby with his long-term collaborators: Jason Lindner on keyboards, Tim Lefebvre – who also serves as producer – on bass, Nate Wood on drums, and Ben Monder on guitar. At a few places, Jonathan Maron and Zach Danzinger fill the bass and drum seats respectively and on “Blond Crush,” Ryan Dahle provides a second guitar part. Also playing prominent roles are those who mixed the album: producer Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, MGMT), Steve Wall (“Celestial,” “Solace,” “Lullaby for the Lost”), and Aaron Nevezie (“Stately,” “Mercy”). These mixers toy with reverb, modulation, and delays to develop contrasts between organic and synthetic spaces.

“Wasteland” kicks off with McCaslin’s tenor soaring over a bed of electronics, growing in intensity like a rock lead vocalist striving to be heard above the din. The cosmic “Solace” unfolds in three sections, interspersing calm with turbulence. The leader’s tenor is front and center once again as the melody rises and falls before he launches an aggressive solo in the second section. It concludes with a blaring sonic wall.

The aptly titled “Stately” finds McCaslin’s tenor floating more gently over Monder’s guitar and Lindner’s keys in an island of calm. The engine revs up mightily for “Blond Crush,” as drummer Nate Wood beats the skins as if it were his last gig while the entire band takes it at a blistering, motor speedway pace. The lead single, “Celestial,” is as prime an example of this band’s sound as any track. The origin of the tune was spontaneous and serendipitous. During a soundcheck in Italy, Lindner laid down a wondrous synthesizer sound, Lefebvre proffered a bass line with a “tinge of Weather Report,” and Wood added an infectious groove. It was all captured on McCaslin’s phone and later developed into the finished product. “Tokyo Game Show” hits like a frenetic video game with McCaslin locked into a repetitive riff before he spars with Monder and Lindner as they fire up the boiler. This track, like the latter section of “Solace,” provides a relentless barrage of sound.

Lullaby is cathartic for McCaslin, who states he has been recently dealing with pain and trauma.  He finds the music transformative, explaining, “It’s learning to channel pain into something meaningful, even beautiful.” As a result, we have the title track inspired by Neil Young’s Le Noise (Reprise, 2010), with Monder’s guitar work creating what McCaslin describes as a spirit reminiscent of Bowie’s “I Can’t Give Everything Away.” Later, the saxophonist uses the descriptor, “beautiful angst.” Both McCaslin’s and Monder’s lines are far more sustained here than on most of the prior pieces, save for the leader’s fierce tenor solo.

“KID” develops out of Lefebvre’s bass intro and provides another series of repetitive riffs from McCaslin, reaching lift-off about halfway through the piece, with the collective unit contributing to the bracing sonic palette. That stance continues initially into the closer, “Mercy,” before the last three minutes bear a spacey, almost spiritual-like tone that continually reverberates.

One can easily get lost – no pun intended – in this blurring, genre-defying music. McCaslin continues to forge on his own unique path. 

‘Lullaby for the Lost’ is out now on Edition Records. It can be purchased on Bandcamp.