In November 2017, the Northwest underground stalwart suffered a stroke that nearly killed him and wiped his entire musical catalog (including the Minus 5, Young Fresh Fellows, R.E.M., and many more) from his memory. But instead of wallowing in misery, McCaughey channeled his omni-positive spirit and began to write down whatever incoherent thoughts crossed his mind. He turned those stream-of-consciousness notebook pages into his 13th full-length Minus 5 release, Stroke Manor.