Phillips' stellar songcraft and peerless melodic sensibility meet with the on-edge urgency of living in dangerously volatile times on this follow-up to 2016's acclaimed The Narrows. The Grant Lee Buffalo frontman continues his rise as a solo artist as his excellent trio plays (largely live in the studio) "Walk in Circles," "Unruly Mobs," "King of Catastrophes," "Something's Gotta Give," "Scared Stiff," "The Wilderness" and more. Inspired by "the things that eat away in the late hours," Phillips invests the insight, nuance and wit in a riveting dissection of today's fraught social landscape. Recorded over four days at Sound Emporium in Nashville, the 12-track set was produced by Phillips (guitar, vocals, keyboards) and cut largely live in the studio as a trio with Jerry Roe (drums) and Lex Price (bass). Mixed by Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, The Decemberists) and engineered by Mike Stankiewicz, the album delivers it's poetic truths in Phillips' peerless melodic sensibilities, relayed via vocal performances that balance intensity and vulnerability.