Damon Locks' Black Monument Ensemble announce new album 'NOW'; watch the video for the title track

Monday Feb 22nd 2021

Curated by Matana Roberts News snacks

Originally conceived as a medium for Chicago-based multi-media artist/activist Damon Locks’s sample-based sound collage work, Black Monument Ensemble (BME) has evolved from a solo mission into a vibrant collective of artists, musicians, singers, and dancers making work with common goals of joy, compassion, and intention.

Following the release of 'Where Future Unfolds' (2019), the group now announce their new album 'NOW', released digitally on April 9th and with physical copies following in July, via International Anthem. Players include Ben LaMar Gay, Angel Bat Dawid, Dana Hall, and Arif Smith, amongst others. Pre-order via Bandcamp. From the press release:

"NOW" was created in the final throes of Summer 2020, following months of pandemic-induced fear & isolation, the explosion of social unrest, struggle & violence in the streets, and as the certain presence of a new reality had fully settled in. Set up safely in the garden behind Chicago’s Experimental Sound Studio, the music was recorded in only a few takes, capturing the first times members of BME had ever played or sang the tunes. For Locks, the impetus was more about getting together to commune and make art than it was about producing an album. In his words: “It was about offering a new thought. It was about resisting the darkness. It was about expressing possibility. It was about asking the question, ‘Since the future has unfolded and taken a new and dangerous shape... what happens NOW?’”

Watch the video for the lead single 'NOW (Forever Momentary Space)' below.

Damon Locks' Black Monument Ensemble will perform live at Le Guess Who? 2021. Other artists performing at the 14th edition of the festival are Matana Roberts, Midori Takada, Alabaster dePlume, DJ Lycox, Pink Siifu, SPAZA, and many more.