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Hailing from Melbourne
Recommended if you like classic jangle-pop compilations, AU/NZ jangle-pop, art-pop experimentation
Latest release 'Going Back to Sleep' is available now

Melbourne-based DJ Moopie, AKA Matthew Xue, has built a reputation for deeply absorbing musical journeys that often traverse from gelid ambient music to pulsating breakbeats and much more. Additionally, he operates A Colourful Storm – a fantastic indie label that delivers far beyond its size when it comes to releasing charmingly moody experimental pop music, featuring a diverse roster including percussionist Valentina Magaletti, based in London, dubby Hobart duo Troth, and esteemed multi-disciplinary artist Simon Fisher Turner.

In 2017, the label released 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 record that acts as a companion piece which doubles as a carefully curated roadmap to a selection of top-notch twee-pop acts active today. Sydney band Daily Toll, their 2025 first record A Profound Non-Event being one of the year’s underrated gems, offer 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.

Elsewhere, Going Back to Sleep features tracks from Bay Area indie fixtures the Reds, Pinks and Purples; the sparse-sounding Sydney ensemble the Lewers; and sun-dappled folk-pop from Dutch duo 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
An uncommon single release by the Red Hot Chili Peppers' bassist, and it is superbly executed: driving yet inquisitive soul-infused jazz as Flea advocates 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 for this breathtaking duet with Seyfried featured on the soundtrack he composed for The Testament of Ann Lee.

Jana Horn – All in Bet
This songwriter from Texas captures the full spectrum of a sigh in this opulently sad new song, in which minimal hints of piano and flute tinge her fatigued disillusionment.

Umor Rex – Lo Animal
It's not hard to picture this cellist from Madrid's industrial-tinged gothic opus playing over scenes in Dune, due to its seismic drum work, piercing industrial noises, haunting choral passages and end-times grandeur.

Zora Jones x DJ Polo – Hoes Link Up
The creative Austrian producer and singer teams up with Bristolian UK bass producer DJ Polo on a track of hard-hitting ghettotech: the percussion is overpowering but the melody is almost dream-pop.

Jawnino and Surf Gang – Hit Again
Featured on the fresh mixtape Amnesia, The UK's Jawnino flows over varied cloud-rap beats by Surf Gang, and this track is a highlight, Jawnino alert and locked in as he observes the world of narcotics.

Annabelle Chairlegs – Heavy Sleeper
Produced by Ty Segall, this garage-rock-influenced track moves forward stubbornly on its own schedule, transitioning from a freight-train momentum to the musician from Austin's dazed reverie about how “the moon returns the spirit to me”.