" data-original-title="" title="">Damon Locks' description of the album reads, in part, as follows: "This is a document of the moment... As the old world falls, we lose a lot but we gain the opportunity to create anew... We can spark something now. The new is possible."

At the time of writing, six months after Now was recorded, there are signs of hope: above all, the restoration of reason and evidence-based decision making to the US presidency, and the proven efficacy of vaccines to fight the pandemic. But Locks and the other members of BME would not suggest that these two things are guarantees of a sunnier, more harmonious future. And nor are they. The real power to heal division and effect change rests, as always, with the people. What the album is saying in essence is: time to put your shoulder and your love to the wheel, for the struggle is only now beginning and a happy ending is still far from certain.

Musically, Now is a mix of spoken word, jazz, gospel and other retained Africanisms. The instrumental lineup—sampler and electronicist Locks, clarinetist