The dynamic pair offered a first taste of their expansive sound in April: a reimagining of Mills’ “Infinite Voyage.” The track will also appear on The Override Switch along with seven unreleased ones (plus two bonus tracks on the digital album). The album is a nod to John Coltrane, J Dilla, Kraftwerk and other artists “who inspire experimentation with what can be evoked through music.”

Axis Alert > Coming October 15th. Jeff Mills and Rafael Leafar debuts the much-anticipated and groundbreaking THE OVERRIDE SWITCH (album).
Formats: 2 X 12" vinyl and digital
Coming 10/15/2021 at https://t.co/F6YcqjUW7F pic.twitter.com/nim6xwV7T9

— Jeff Mills (@DJJeffMills) August 26, 2021

“The Override Switch reflects on the precise moment people decide in their minds that the only way to improve a situation is to act—to change the scenario and deal with the consequences as they develop to work for a better outcome,” Mills is quoted in a press release.

“Unrestrained and unshackled by the semiotics placed by conventional dance music, it looks to a frontier beyond what is conditioned by genre,” the release continues. “By infusing the mercurial elements of jazz, it gives electronic instruments the avenue that it always had the potential to travel down; as an unrestrictive genre, exploring the boundless possibilities in which it is capable.”

Mills’ prior electronic jazz releases have included collaborations with legendary Afrobeat artist Tony Allen and French keyboardist Jean-Phi Dary, along with his Spiral Deluxe project with Yumiko Ohno, Kenji ‘Jino’ Hino and Gerald Mitchell.

Back in May 2020, Mills announced Axis would release classical, jazz and film soundtracks in addition to techno.

The original version of the single appeared on Think Again, the Millsart EP that directly followed the conclusion of the project’s 20-year-running Every Dog Has Its Day series. Leafar’s instrumental abstractions complement the dissonant progression of the source material well, expanding the range of emotion captured in the core motif.

“When I created ‘Infinite Voyage’ for the Millsart Think Again album, I had a feeling that I was just skimming the top of this concept and that there could be more work to do on it,” said Mills in a press release. “When a close friend in Detroit turned me onto Rafael Leafar and what an amazing musician he is, I thought this might be an opportunity to explore further.”

He continued: “What Rafael did was re-adjust context of time and atmosphere that surrounds the the elements by an almost orchestral way of adding various horn parts and effects. Now, its deeper than deep!”

Jeff Mills needs no introduction among longtime fans of electronic music; over the course of his nearly 40-year career his music and philosophies have played an integral role in the evolution of techno. Leafar, by comparison, boasts a shorter tenure. Since 2009, however, the Detroit Civic Jazz Orchestra alumni has managed to work with the likes of Reggie Workman, Robert Hurst, Marcus Belgrave, Luis Resto, Vincent Chandler, Jeff Tain Watts, Marion Hayden, and Sterling Toles.

Mills himself has been notably drawn to the same styles as of late. Last spring, he shared plans to expand Axis Records’ offerings to include jazz, classical and film scores, and in January he released an electronic jazz album titled Counter Active alongside instrumentalist Jean-Phi Dary as The Paradox.

The update of “The Infinite Voyage” will arrive in digital format only to accompany the vinyl record release of Think Again on April 16th.