The Desired Effect, by Brandon Flowers

The second solo record by the Killers frontman Brandon Flowers is a revival of the sounds and sentiments behind the 1980s dance-pop genre. Inspired by the music of his adolescence, Flowers’s The Desired Effect bounces through synth-heavy tracks such as “Lonely Town” and “Diggin’ Up the Heart,” basking in technology as much as in Flowers’s love-hungry narratives.

Listeners familiar with the Killers’ songbook know that, amid the cautionary tales of motiveless murders in “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine” and cocaine addictions in “Uncle Jonny” lies the voice of a hopeful storyteller. It is this voice that appeared on Flowers’s first solo album, Flamingo, in 2010 and returns for The Desired Effect. Like the romantic lyricist who scripted lifelong love into “The Clock Was Tickin’” on Flamingo, Flowers puts a new spin on unshakable love for his new album, promising, “I can bend, I can break, I can shift, I can shape — I can change for you” (“I Can Change”).

With help from producer Ariel Rechtshaid (Vampire Weekend), Flowers pairs this common theme with dozens of musical pathways that leap and shift as much as love itself. The Desired Effect’s core message might be as old as time, but Flowers recognizes that there are several ways to make traditional stories new again — and he is never one to stand still.

• Album: The Desired Effect
• Artist: Brandon Flowers
• Label: Island Records
• Songs: (1) Dreams Come True (2) Can't Deny My Love (3) I Can Change (4) Still Want You (5) Between Me and You (6) Lonely Town (7) Diggin' Up the Heart (8) Never Get You Right (9) Untangled Love (10) The Way It's Always Been