For his ninth album, Elvis Costello opted for a sleek contemporary sound highlighted by heavy synths and drum machines. While the album might sound like an artifact of its time (1984), Costello pushes his tunes beyond any worn-out genre reenactments or era trappings. And most songs soar—there’s hearty soul on “Home Truth,” shiny adult-contemporary pop and self-loathing on “I Wanna Be Loved,” slick white-boy R&B on “Sour Milk-Cow Blues.” Wartime irony is juxtaposed achingly on the tender finale “Peace in Our Time.”