Forget everything you ever thought was dull or ponderous about ambient music, as Boards of Canada return like Greek heroes -- unbound from a genre that often sounds like a washing machine begging for a swift kick.

Pay attention, Radiohead.

Boards of Canada traced a disturbed childhood in the arctic, austere Music Has the Right to Children, but here there's a slightly warmer feeling.

More central, tweaked vocals add a new dimension to the "hard beats + bittersweet melodies" pattern of the past; songs like the gorgeous, ice-melting "Zoetrope" glide along on simple celestial glimmers without a single bassline in sight.

It's as if the band is thawing out in preparation for something.

Even when it's hard to tell what that might be.

Tiny, exploratory decisions -- no matter.

You'll likely want to crawl inside this EP's washing machine for a long, long time.