🔗 Share this article

Hailing from Melbourne
Ideal listening for those who enjoy classic jangle-pop compilations, Antipodean jangle-pop, atmospheric pop
Latest release The compilation 'Going Back to Sleep' is currently released

Matthew Xue, who performs under the moniker DJ Moopie in Melbourne, has built a reputation for engrossing, wide-ranging sets that effortlessly shift between chilled-out soundscapes to pulsating breakbeats and beyond. He also runs A Colourful Storm – an exceptional independent record label that massively punches above its weight when it comes to releasing charmingly moody experimental pop music, with contributors ranging from London-based percussionist Valentina Magaletti, Troth, a bass-heavy duo from Hobart, and renowned underground polymath Simon Fisher Turner.

In 2017, the label released I Won’t Have to Think About You, a collection of delightful, C86-inspired indie pop. Earlier this year, it put out Going Back to Sleep, a record that acts as a companion piece which simultaneously serves as a neatly drawn guide to a selection of top-notch twee-pop acts currently working. Daily Toll, a band from Sydney, their 2025 first record A Profound Non-Event being an overlooked treasure of the year, contribute Time, a seven-minute daydream built on melodica and guitar. Chateau, the pair, featuring members Al Montfort and Alex Macfarlane, push into percussive, psychedelic lounge pop on How Long on the Platform, while the band Who Cares?, channel equal parts moody vocalists Hope Sandoval and Eartheater on Wax and Wane.

On other parts of the compilation, Going Back to Sleep showcases songs by San Francisco indie stalwarts the Reds, Pinks and Purples; Sydney's minimalist outfit the Lewers; and bright, folk-tinged pop from the Dutch pair the Hobknobs. It’s an unassuming compilation that’s destined to be a beloved and regularly mentioned resource for aficionados of music that is subtle and emotionally resonant.

The Top New Releases This Week

Flea – A Plea
A seldom-seen individual effort from the RHCP bass player, and a magnificently realised one: driving yet inquisitive soul-infused jazz with Flea calling 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, you can imagine Blumberg winning the 2026 Oscar for Best Original Song thanks to this remarkable collaboration with Amanda Seyfried featured on his soundtrack to The Testament of Ann Lee.

Jana Horn – All in Bet
The Texan songwriter depicts all the nuances of melancholy in this opulently sad new song, where the slightest touches of piano and flute tinge her fatigued disillusionment.

Umor Rex – Lo Animal
It's not hard to picture this Madrid-based cellist’s dark, gothic composition touched by industrial music playing over scenes in Dune, due to its seismic drum work, screeching metallic sounds, haunting choral passages and apocalyptic grandeur.

Zora Jones x DJ Polo – Hoes Link Up
Austrian visionary Zora Jones joins forces with Bristol-based UK bass maker DJ Polo to deliver pounding ghettotech: the percussion is overpowering but the melody is almost dream-pop.

Jawnino and Surf Gang – Hit Again
Featured on the fresh mixtape Amnesia, British MC Jawnino flows over an assortment of cloud-rap instrumentals courtesy of Surf Gang, and this is one of its peaks, Jawnino focused and in the zone while he examines the landscape of drug dealing.

Annabelle Chairlegs – Heavy Sleeper
Helmed by Ty Segall, this garage-rock-influenced track propels itself forward at a self-determined tempo, from runaway truck to the Austin musician’s dazed reverie about how “my spirit is restored by the moon”.