Ascribed to Daniel Ramono's Outfit -- his longtime road band -- How Ill Thy World Is Ordered is the staggeringly prolific Canadian artist's ninth release of 2020, and the most representative of his particular brand of midtempo, power pop-propelled, neo-prog Americana. Perched at the nexus of 2017's Lee Hazelwood-leaning Modern Pressure and the heady psych-folk of 2018's Finally Free, the 11-song set is a vibrant concoction of Beatlesque countrypolitan ("A Rat Without a Tale") and lo-fi E Street Band grandiosity ("First Yoke") assembled with the enthusiastic, yet sometimes cursory precision of an amateur horologist. Lusty amp crashes, bursts of strings, and Brill Building backing vocals compete for sonic footholds, while Romano's verbose ramblings and antiquated vocabulary evoke Ezra Furman by way of Walt Whitman. The buoyant two-part "Joys Too Often Hollow" finds the sweet spot between the easy, open-road propulsion of the Eagles and the sunset melancholy of the Grateful Dead, while the kaleidoscopic "Drugged Vinegar" distills all of Romano's stylistic predilections into an art-rock funhouse, replete with narcotic tape loops, soulful horns, and a liquidy, ribbon-controlled analog synth solo. It's a lot to take in, but Romano's innate pop acumen provides just enough netting to deter the myriad moving parts from simply drifting off into the ether. How Ill Thy World Is Ordered would feel like a grift in lesser hands, but there's no chicanery to be found here, only solid, smart songwriting with a little bit of rock & roll peacocking tossed in for good measure. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

1		A Rat Without a Tale
2		How III Thy World Is Ordered
3		Green Eye-Shade
4		First Yoke
5		Joys Too Often Hollow
6		Joys Too Often Hollow, Pt. 2
7		Drugged Vinegar
8		Never Yet in Love
9		A Secret Still to Be Betrayed
10		No More Disheartened by the Dawn
11		Amaretto and Coke