There's nothing useful going on. No Leonard Cohen discofied tonedeafery. No desensitized irony. No reason for the back-up girls. There is a surprising amount of restraint from the usual shmaltzy excesses.
Strings enter and disappear at the appropriate moments.
Elvis can still turn a phrase like he was ringin' a bell, even when he's writing genuine love songs. It's a collaboration born out of mutual respect. I believe that, and I think it shows in the way there isn't a half-assed note on the whole album. Even the least successful songs, the least emotional ones, sound like work went into their compositions. Good to see people are still composing in this Marcy Playground afterworld.