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Hailing from Melbourne
Recommended if you like the C86 indie pop sound, AU/NZ jangle-pop, atmospheric pop
Up next Going Back to Sleep out now

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 driving drum and bass and beyond. He also runs A Colourful Storm – an exceptional independent record label that massively punches above its weight when it comes to putting out charmingly moody experimental pop music, with contributors ranging from London-based percussionist Valentina Magaletti, dubby Hobart duo Troth, and renowned underground polymath Simon Fisher Turner.

The label's 2017 release was I Won’t Have to Think About You, a compilation of winsome, C86-ish indie pop. More recently, it has issued Going Back to Sleep, a quasi-sequel to that record which also functions as a neatly drawn guide to some of the best twee-pop groups currently working. The Sydney group Daily Toll, with a 2025 debut, A Profound Non-Event, that stands as one of the year’s underrated gems, contribute Time, a sprawling, seven-minute meditation featuring melodica and guitar. Chateau, the duo of Al Montfort (Terry, Total Control) and Alex Macfarlane (the Stevens, Twerps), venture into rhythmic, trippy lounge music on How Long on the Platform, and the band Who Cares?, draw equally from the styles of Hope Sandoval and Eartheater on Wax and Wane.

On other parts of the compilation, Going Back to Sleep includes contributions from San Francisco indie stalwarts the Reds, Pinks and Purples; the sparse-sounding Sydney ensemble the Lewers; and the sunny folk-pop of Netherlands-based duo the Hobknobs. It’s an unassuming compilation that’s likely to grow into a beloved and regularly mentioned resource among connoisseurs of music that is subtle and emotionally resonant.

This Week’s Best New Tracks

Flea – A Plea
A rare solo track by the Red Hot Chili Peppers' bassist, and it is superbly executed: driving yet inquisitive soul-infused jazz as Flea advocates for tranquility and compassion. “No cheesiness here – this is the truth!”

Daniel Blumberg and Amanda Seyfried – Clothed By the Sun
After securing this year's Oscar for Best Original Score, it's easy to picture Blumberg taking home 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 paints in every shade of a sigh in this opulently sad new song, as delicate traces of piano and woodwind shade her exhausted letdown.

Umor Rex – Lo Animal
It's not hard to picture this Madrid-based cellist’s dark, gothic composition touched by industrial music on the soundtrack to Dune, with its thundering drums, metallic shrieks, haunting choral passages and cataclysmic majesty.

Zora Jones x DJ Polo – Hoes Link Up
Imaginative Austrian producer-vocalist joins forces with Bristolian UK bass producer DJ Polo for some slamming ghettotech: the percussion is overpowering although the tune is nearly dream-pop in nature.

Jawnino and Surf Gang – Hit Again
On new mixtape Amnesia, UK rapper Jawnino rides varied cloud-rap beats by Surf Gang, and this is one of its peaks, Jawnino focused and in the zone as he surveys the drug trade.

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