Matthew Xue's Charmingly Moody Curated Collections along with The Week's Best New Tracks
Based in Melbourne
Ideal listening for those who enjoy the C86 compilation, Australian and New Zealand guitar pop, atmospheric pop
Newest project 'Going Back to Sleep' is available now
Melbourne-based DJ Moopie, AKA Matthew Xue, is renowned for deeply absorbing musical journeys that effortlessly shift between icy, atmospheric ambience to churning drum'n'bass and beyond. He also runs A Colourful Storm – a remarkable DIY imprint that massively punches above its weight 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 renowned underground polymath Simon Fisher Turner.
In 2017, the label released 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 spiritual follow-up to that compilation which doubles as a carefully curated roadmap to a selection of top-notch twee-pop acts making music now. Daily Toll, a band from Sydney, their 2025 first record A Profound Non-Event being an overlooked treasure of the year, offer Time, a seven-minute daydream built on melodica and guitar. Chateau, featuring members Al Montfort and Alex Macfarlane, explore percussive, psychedelic lounge pop on How Long on the Platform, and the band Who Cares?, draw equally from moody vocalists 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 the sunny folk-pop of Netherlands-based duo the Hobknobs. This is a modest collection that’s destined to be deeply cherished and often cited with fans of all things delicate and deeply felt.
The Top New Releases This Week
Flea – A Plea
An uncommon single release by the Red Hot Chili Peppers' bassist, and a magnificently realised one: driving yet inquisitive soul-infused 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, you can imagine Blumberg winning the 2026 Oscar for Best Original Song for this stunning Seyfried duet featured on the soundtrack he composed for The Testament of Ann Lee.
Jana Horn – All in Bet
The Texan songwriter depicts all the nuances of melancholy in this opulently sad new song, as delicate traces of keys and wind instruments colour her weary disappointment.
Umor Rex – Lo Animal
One might readily envision this cellist from Madrid's industrial-tinged gothic opus playing over scenes in Dune, due to its seismic drum work, screeching metallic sounds, eerie chorals and end-times grandeur.
Zora Jones x DJ Polo – Hoes Link Up
Imaginative Austrian producer-vocalist joins forces with Bristol-based UK bass maker DJ Polo on a track of hard-hitting ghettotech: the percussion is overpowering yet the melody approaches dream-pop.
Jawnino and Surf Gang – Hit Again
On new mixtape Amnesia, British MC Jawnino flows over an assortment of cloud-rap instrumentals from Surf Gang, and this is one of its peaks, Jawnino alert and locked in while he examines the landscape of drug dealing.
Annabelle Chairlegs – Heavy Sleeper
With production by Ty Segall, this garage-rock-influenced track propels itself forward at a self-determined tempo, shifting from a runaway vehicle to the Austin-based artist's dazed reverie about how “the moon gives me back my spirit”.
