🔗 Share this article

Hailing from Melbourne
Recommended if you like classic jangle-pop compilations, Antipodean jangle-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 can run the gamut from gelid ambient music to driving drum and bass and beyond. He is also the founder of A Colourful Storm – a fantastic indie label that massively punches above its weight when it comes to releasing endearingly atmospheric avant-pop, with contributors ranging from the rhythmic explorations of Valentina Magaletti, the dub-infused sounds of Hobart pair Troth, and renowned underground polymath Simon Fisher Turner.

Back in 2017, the imprint put out I Won’t Have to Think About You, a compilation of winsome, C86-ish indie pop. Earlier this year, it put out Going Back to Sleep, a quasi-sequel to that record which simultaneously serves as a succinct overview to several excellent bands in the gentle pop sphere active today. Daily Toll, a band from Sydney, with a 2025 debut, A Profound Non-Event, that stands as an overlooked treasure of the year, offer Time, a seven-minute melodica-and-guitar reverie. The duo Chateau, the duo of Al Montfort (Terry, Total Control) and Alex Macfarlane (the Stevens, Twerps), explore beat-driven, psychedelic-infused easy listening on How Long on the Platform, and Who Cares?, one of Melbourne's best new bands, 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 Bay Area indie fixtures the Reds, Pinks and Purples; the sparse-sounding Sydney ensemble the Lewers; and bright, folk-tinged pop from the Dutch pair the Hobknobs. This is a modest collection that’s almost certain to become deeply cherished and often cited among connoisseurs of music that is subtle and emotionally resonant.

The Top New Releases This Week

Flea – A Plea
A rare solo track from the RHCP bass player, and it is superbly executed: rhythmically forward-moving but adventurous jazz-soul with Flea calling for tranquility and compassion. “I’m not being corny – this shit is real!”

Daniel Blumberg and Amanda Seyfried – Clothed By the Sun
Having won this year’s best original score Oscar, one could envision Blumberg earning 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 on this deeply gloomy comeback, as delicate traces of piano and flute shade her exhausted letdown.

Umor Rex – Lo Animal
You could easily imagine this cellist from Madrid's dark, gothic composition touched by industrial music playing over scenes in Dune, due to its seismic drum work, metallic shrieks, spooky vocal harmonies and apocalyptic grandeur.

Zora Jones x DJ Polo – Hoes Link Up
The creative Austrian producer and singer joins forces with Bristolian UK bass producer DJ Polo on a track of hard-hitting ghettotech: the drums could knock you flat yet the melody approaches dream-pop.

Jawnino and Surf Gang – Hit Again
On new mixtape Amnesia, British MC Jawnino flows over diverse, ethereal rap production courtesy of Surf Gang, and this is one of its peaks, Jawnino alert and locked in while he examines the drug trade.

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