🔗 Share this article

Based in Melbourne
Recommended if you like the C86 indie pop sound, Australian and New Zealand guitar pop, atmospheric pop
Latest release The compilation 'Going Back to Sleep' is currently released

The artist known as DJ Moopie, real name Matthew Xue, from Melbourne, is celebrated for captivating and eclectic DJ sets that often traverse from gelid ambient music to pulsating breakbeats and much more. Additionally, he operates A Colourful Storm – an exceptional independent record label that consistently exceeds expectations when it comes to releasing endearingly atmospheric avant-pop, from artists as disparate as the rhythmic explorations of Valentina Magaletti, dubby Hobart duo Troth, and renowned underground polymath Simon Fisher Turner.

Back in 2017, the imprint put out I Won’t Have to Think About You, an assortment of charming guitar-pop reminiscent of the C86 era. More recently, it has issued Going Back to Sleep, a spiritual follow-up to that compilation which also functions as a succinct overview to a selection of top-notch twee-pop acts making music now. The Sydney group Daily Toll, with a 2025 debut, A Profound Non-Event, that stands as a hidden jewel from this year, contribute Time, a seven-minute melodica-and-guitar reverie. The duo Chateau, featuring members Al Montfort and Alex Macfarlane, explore rhythmic, trippy lounge music on How Long on the Platform, while Who Cares?, blend influences from Hope Sandoval and Eartheater on Wax and Wane.

In other tracks, Going Back to Sleep includes contributions from San Francisco indie stalwarts the Reds, Pinks and Purples; the sparse-sounding Sydney ensemble the Lewers; and bright, folk-tinged pop from the Dutch pair the Hobknobs. It stands as a humble compilation that’s likely to grow into a beloved and regularly mentioned resource for aficionados of all things delicate and deeply felt.

This Week’s Best New Tracks

Flea – A Plea
A seldom-seen individual effort from the RHCP bass player, and it is superbly executed: propulsive but exploratory soul-jazz where Flea pleads for peace and love. “No cheesiness here – this is the truth!”

Daniel Blumberg and Amanda Seyfried – Clothed By the Sun
Having won this year’s best original score Oscar, it's easy to picture Blumberg taking home the Best Original Song award in 2026 thanks to this remarkable collaboration with Amanda Seyfried taken from his soundtrack to The Testament of Ann Lee.

Jana Horn – All in Bet
Jana Horn, an artist based in Texas depicts all the nuances of melancholy in this opulently sad new song, as delicate traces of piano and woodwind colour her weary disappointment.

Umor Rex – Lo Animal
It's not hard to picture this Madrid-based cellist’s gothic masterpiece with industrial shades on the soundtrack to Dune, thanks to its pounding percussion, screeching metallic sounds, eerie chorals and end-times grandeur.

Zora Jones x DJ Polo – Hoes Link Up
Imaginative Austrian producer-vocalist joins forces with UK bass producer DJ Polo from Bristol to deliver pounding ghettotech: the beats are absolutely crushing but the melody is almost dream-pop.

Jawnino and Surf Gang – Hit Again
Featured on the fresh mixtape Amnesia, British MC Jawnino rides an assortment of cloud-rap instrumentals by Surf Gang, and this is one of its peaks, Jawnino sharp and fully engaged as he surveys the drug trade.

Annabelle Chairlegs – Heavy Sleeper
With production by Ty Segall, this garage-rock-influenced track moves forward stubbornly on its own schedule, shifting from a runaway vehicle to the Austin-based artist's dazed reverie about how “the moon returns the spirit to me”.