1/2 White Town, “Women in Technology,”*** EMI.

If you’ve found some sadness at the heart of the novelty and ‘20s/’80s mystique of the left-field smash “Your Woman,” you’re on the mark. Jyoti Mishra, the Indian English artist who is White Town, fleshes out that catchy hit on this first full album with a wide range of the melancholy one feels sitting alone in a bedroom--which is exactly where he crafted this highly personal collection.

His low-key voice and words, and even the slight chill of his synth-dominated pop, convey naked yearnings deflected only by irony (“Theme for an Early Evening American Sit-com”). And when he picks up an acoustic guitar, as in the slow samba “A Week Next June” or the brief title track, the hurt is even rawer, but touching rather than distancing.

While nothing else has the hit’s instant pop gratification, Mishra shows too much depth to be dismissed as a one-hit wonder--no matter how he fares in the charts.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).