🔗 Share this article DJ Moopie's Intriguingly Atmospheric Experimental Compilations and This Week's Best New Tracks From Melbourne Ideal listening for those who enjoy the C86 indie pop sound, Antipodean jangle-pop, Mess Esque Latest release Going Back to Sleep out now Melbourne-based DJ Moopie, AKA Matthew Xue, is renowned for deeply absorbing musical journeys that often traverse from chilled-out soundscapes to pulsating breakbeats and much more. He is also the founder of 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 London-based percussionist Valentina Magaletti, Troth, a bass-heavy duo from Hobart, and renowned underground polymath Simon Fisher Turner. In 2017, the label released I Won’t Have to Think About You, a collection of delightful, C86-inspired indie pop. Earlier this year, it put out Going Back to Sleep, a quasi-sequel to that record which also functions as a neatly drawn guide to a selection of top-notch twee-pop acts currently working. Sydney band Daily Toll, whose 2025 debut A Profound Non-Event is one of the year’s underrated gems, contribute Time, a seven-minute daydream built on melodica and guitar. The duo Chateau, comprising Al Montfort and Alex Macfarlane, explore beat-driven, psychedelic-infused easy listening on How Long on the Platform, while the band Who Cares?, draw equally from the styles of Hope Sandoval and Eartheater on Wax and Wane. In other tracks, Going Back to Sleep includes contributions 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’s an unassuming compilation that’s likely to grow into deeply cherished and often cited among connoisseurs of art that is gentle and profoundly emotional. Fresh Tracks of the Week Flea – A Plea A rare solo track from the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist, 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 Following his Oscar win for Best Original Score this year, one could envision Blumberg earning the Best Original Song award in 2026 for this stunning Seyfried duet included in the score for the film 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 shade her exhausted letdown. Umor Rex – Lo Animal You could easily imagine this Madrid-based cellist’s gothic masterpiece with industrial shades featured in a Dune soundtrack, thanks to its pounding percussion, metallic shrieks, eerie chorals and cataclysmic majesty. 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 percussion is overpowering although the tune is nearly dream-pop in nature. Jawnino and Surf Gang – Hit Again Included on the latest mixtape, Amnesia, British MC Jawnino rolls over varied cloud-rap beats courtesy of Surf Gang, with this song standing as a peak moment, Jawnino alert and locked in as he observes the landscape of drug dealing. Annabelle Chairlegs – Heavy Sleeper With production by Ty Segall, this garagey number propels itself forward at a self-determined tempo, transitioning from a freight-train momentum to the musician from Austin's hazy daydream about how “the moon returns the spirit to me”.