Pardon my recklessness, but even though the new year is only a few weeks old, I'm going to go ahead and declare Orange the best EP of 2004. It's quite brief -- a tease, really -- but these three songs have more enigmatic charm and evidence a more coolly refined aesthetic than most of 2003's full-lengths. Though they sound nothing alike, Human Television's sound toes the line between retro and something alien and new in the same way as the Clientele. The band's music is poppy and melodious like Unrest, but it is also shaded with the dark jangle of the Go-Betweens or any number of Creation bands. "Tell Me What You Want" opens with a thudding bass-heavy drone that gives way to a slow trickle of chiming guitars and Billy Downing's vocals. A hugely likable articulator, Downing expertly juggles detachment and passion, matching the music's similar balance of jangly grit and melodic ingenuity. A foggy, melancholy passage begins "Automobile", after which it also bursts into joyous, Wedding Present-ish pop nirvana. Guitarists Downing and Boyd Shropshire's arpeggio-heavy shadings on "Saw You Walking By" combine with some dumbly gleeful (in a good way) lyrics ("saw you walking by the other day and I said hey hey hey hey hey") and the result is Orange's third and final masterpiece.

Although it isn't nearly as long as you'll want it to be, Orange is an emphatic statement of intent. With any luck, future releases will seal Human Television's status as a band you won't feel guilty about breathlessly hyping.