Inspired by the writings of Mark Fisher, Present Tense is about “mourning an imagined future.” xor (Asheville, North Carolina’s Matthew Boman) cites “old space age photos” as a prime example, lamenting that “there used to be so much optimism about what humans were going to achieve.” The feeling is common, as a seemingly unending barrage of bad news has caused a worldwide malaise. And yet, Boman ~ who saw his own community flooded during Hurricane Helene, but was also part of the rebuilding ~ does more than lament; he also plunges forward in hope. Building a community around the album, he commissions seven different filmmakers to produce videos for the tracks, underlining the value of collaboration and the possibility that things…