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Based in Melbourne
Recommended if you like classic jangle-pop compilations, Australian and New Zealand guitar pop, art-pop experimentation
Up next 'Going Back to Sleep' is available now

Melbourne-based DJ Moopie, AKA Matthew Xue, is celebrated for captivating and eclectic DJ sets that effortlessly shift between chilled-out soundscapes 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 issuing quirky and introspective pop experiments, from artists as disparate as London-based percussionist Valentina Magaletti, dubby Hobart duo Troth, and the prolific underground figure Simon Fisher Turner.

Back in 2017, the imprint put out I Won’t Have to Think About You, a collection of delightful, C86-inspired indie pop. This year saw the release of Going Back to Sleep, a record that acts as a companion piece which simultaneously serves as a carefully curated roadmap to a selection of top-notch twee-pop acts active today. Daily Toll, a band from Sydney, their 2025 first record A Profound Non-Event being a hidden jewel from this year, present Time, a seven-minute melodica-and-guitar reverie. Chateau, the pair, comprising Al Montfort and Alex Macfarlane, explore rhythmic, trippy lounge music on How Long on the Platform, and Who Cares?, one of Melbourne's best new bands, draw equally from Hope Sandoval and Eartheater on Wax and Wane.

In other tracks, Going Back to Sleep features tracks from 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 well-loved and frequently referenced with fans of art that is gentle and profoundly emotional.

The Top New Releases This Week

Flea – A Plea
A seldom-seen individual effort from the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist, and a magnificently realised one: propulsive but exploratory soul-jazz as Flea advocates for tranquility and compassion. “I’m not being corny – this shit is real!”

Daniel Blumberg and Amanda Seyfried – Clothed By the Sun
Following his Oscar win for Best Original Score this year, one could envision Blumberg earning the 2026 Oscar for Best Original Song 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 depicts all the nuances of melancholy in this opulently sad new song, where the slightest touches of piano and woodwind tinge her fatigued disillusionment.

Umor Rex – Lo Animal
You could easily imagine this cellist from Madrid's industrial-tinged gothic opus featured in a Dune soundtrack, with its thundering drums, screeching metallic sounds, haunting choral passages and cataclysmic majesty.

Zora Jones x DJ Polo – Hoes Link Up
The creative Austrian producer and singer joins forces with Bristol-based UK bass maker DJ Polo to deliver pounding ghettotech: the percussion is overpowering although the tune is nearly dream-pop in nature.

Jawnino and Surf Gang – Hit Again
Included on the latest mixtape, Amnesia, The UK's Jawnino rolls over varied cloud-rap beats from Surf Gang, and this is one of its peaks, Jawnino sharp and fully engaged while he examines the drug trade.

Annabelle Chairlegs – Heavy Sleeper
Produced by Ty Segall, this garage-rock-influenced track propels itself forward at a self-determined tempo, from runaway truck to the Austin-based artist's dazed reverie about how “the moon gives me back my spirit”.