Created during the tumult of summer 2020, NOW captures the urgency and communal spirit of its moment. Damon Locks assembled his intergenerational Black Monument Ensemble—featuring vocalists, percussionists, Angel Bat Dawid on clarinet, Ben LaMar Gay on cornet/melodica, and drums by Dana Hall and Arif Smith. Recorded in socially distanced sessions outdoors in the backyard of Chicago’s Experimental Sound Studio and indoors under pandemic constraints, the album blends live improvisation with electronic sampling, field recordings, and ambient cicada sounds as part of the sonic fabric.

Across six tracks—highlighted by "Now (Forever Momentary Space)," "Keep Your Mind Free," and "The Body Is Electric"—the collective weaves gospel-inflected choir harmonies, jazz, spoken word, and rhythm-driven loops into a vibrant tapestry of resistance, healing, and affirmation. At just over thirty minutes, NOW is a concise but powerful document of collective improvisation, activism, and artistic possibility in an unfolding moment.