Makaya McCraven returns after three years and details four new EPs

Makaya McCraven has released the first single from each EP: “Imafan” (PopUp Shop), “Away” (Hidden Out!), “Technology” (Techno Logic) and “Choo Choo” (The People’s Mixtape). The four EPs will be compiled on a 2xLP and 2xCD physical release, Off the Record, and mark McCraven’s first recorded offerings since 2022’s In These Times.

Speaking on the record, McCraven says, “In a time where we’re increasingly connected through phones, in a virtual world where you can’t really tell what’s real or what’s fake, there’s something special where we come together and share space, there is something special where we are sharing music, art. I want to create an energy that amplifies the magic in the underground moments where we come together and we experience something wild, different, off the cuff, human. What I’m trying to present is a dreamlike alteration of that energy, which only exists in the recorded realm. But to actually have been there, in real life, is the special thing.”

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Techno Logic features Ben LaMar Gay and Theon Cross, and draws from performances in London (2017), Berlin (2024), and New York (2025). The People’s Mixtape has its foundation in a live recording from Brooklyn’s Public Records in January of 2025, where McCraven celebrated the 10 year anniversary of In The Moment with an intentional return to the improvisational language he developed over that album’s sessions.

Hidden Out! is built off recordings from McCraven’s June 2017 residency at The Hideout in Chicago, where he improvised weekly with a revolving cast including bassist Junius Paul, Tortoise member, International Anthem labelmate, composer and guitarist Jeff Parker, and SML co-leader, GRAMMY-award winning producer and alto saxophonist Josh Johnson. PopUp Shop was created from recordings of McCraven’s Los Angeles debut at Del Monte Speakeasy in 2015.