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Hailing from Melbourne
Ideal listening for those who enjoy 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, is renowned for captivating and eclectic DJ sets that often traverse from gelid ambient music to driving drum and bass plus other genres. He is also the founder of A Colourful Storm – a fantastic indie label that massively punches above its weight when it comes to releasing quirky and introspective pop experiments, with contributors ranging from percussionist Valentina Magaletti, based in London, Troth, a bass-heavy duo from Hobart, and esteemed multi-disciplinary artist Simon Fisher Turner.

In 2017, the label released 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 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, offer Time, a sprawling, seven-minute meditation featuring melodica and guitar. Chateau, the pair, the duo of Al Montfort (Terry, Total Control) and Alex Macfarlane (the Stevens, Twerps), explore rhythmic, trippy lounge music on How Long on the Platform, while Who Cares?, one of Melbourne's best new bands, draw equally from Hope Sandoval and Eartheater on Wax and Wane.

Elsewhere, Going Back to Sleep showcases songs by the enduring San Francisco indie group the Reds, Pinks and Purples; Sydney's minimalist outfit the Lewers; and bright, folk-tinged pop from the Dutch pair the Hobknobs. This is a modest collection that’s destined to be deeply cherished and often cited for aficionados of art that is gentle and profoundly emotional.

The Top New Releases This Week

Flea – A Plea
An uncommon single release from the RHCP bass player, and a magnificently realised one: 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, you can imagine Blumberg winning best original song in 2026 for this breathtaking duet with Seyfried featured on the score for the film The Testament of Ann Lee.

Jana Horn – All in Bet
This songwriter from Texas paints in every shade of a sigh in this opulently sad new song, in which minimal hints of keys and wind instruments tinge her fatigued disillusionment.

Umor Rex – Lo Animal
One might readily envision this cellist from Madrid's dark, gothic composition touched by industrial music featured in a Dune soundtrack, due to its seismic drum work, metallic shrieks, haunting choral passages and end-times grandeur.

Zora Jones x DJ Polo – Hoes Link Up
Imaginative Austrian producer-vocalist teams up with Bristolian UK bass producer DJ Polo on a track of hard-hitting ghettotech: the beats are absolutely crushing although the tune is nearly dream-pop in nature.

Jawnino and Surf Gang – Hit Again
On new mixtape Amnesia, The UK's Jawnino rolls over an assortment of cloud-rap instrumentals courtesy of Surf Gang, with this song standing as a peak moment, Jawnino focused and in the zone while he examines the drug trade.

Annabelle Chairlegs – Heavy Sleeper
With production by Ty Segall, this garage-rock-influenced track propels itself forward at a self-determined tempo, transitioning from a freight-train momentum to the musician from Austin's dazed reverie about how “my spirit is restored by the moon”.