🔗 Share this article Matthew Xue's Charmingly Moody Experimental Compilations along with The Week's Best New Tracks From Melbourne Ideal listening for those who enjoy classic jangle-pop compilations, Antipodean jangle-pop, Mess Esque Up next Going Back to Sleep out now Melbourne-based DJ Moopie, AKA Matthew Xue, is renowned for deeply absorbing musical journeys that often traverse from gelid ambient music to driving drum and bass plus other genres. He also runs A Colourful Storm – a fantastic indie label that delivers far beyond its size when it comes to releasing endearingly atmospheric avant-pop, from artists as disparate as the rhythmic explorations of 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 compilation of winsome, C86-ish indie pop. More recently, it has issued Going Back to Sleep, a quasi-sequel to that record which also functions as a neatly drawn guide to several excellent bands in the gentle pop sphere currently working. Sydney band Daily Toll, with a 2025 debut, A Profound Non-Event, that stands as one of the year’s underrated gems, contribute Time, a sprawling, seven-minute meditation featuring melodica and guitar. Chateau, comprising Al Montfort and Alex Macfarlane, explore rhythmic, trippy lounge music on How Long on the Platform, and the band Who Cares?, blend influences from the styles of Hope Sandoval and Eartheater on Wax and Wane. On other parts of the compilation, Going Back to Sleep features tracks 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. This is a modest collection that’s destined to be well-loved and frequently referenced with fans of music that is subtle and emotionally resonant. The Top New Releases This Week Flea – A Plea An uncommon single release from the RHCP bass player, which is brilliantly accomplished: propulsive but exploratory soul-jazz with Flea calling for harmony and affection. “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 stunning Seyfried duet taken from the score for the film The Testament of Ann Lee. Jana Horn – All in Bet Jana Horn, an artist based in Texas paints in every shade of a sigh on this richly despondent return, as delicate traces of piano and woodwind shade her exhausted letdown. Umor Rex – Lo Animal It's not hard to picture this cellist from Madrid's dark, gothic composition touched by industrial music on the soundtrack to Dune, thanks to its pounding percussion, metallic shrieks, eerie chorals and end-times grandeur. Zora Jones x DJ Polo – Hoes Link Up The creative Austrian producer and singer teams up with Bristol-based UK bass maker DJ Polo on a track of hard-hitting ghettotech: the beats are absolutely crushing but the melody is almost dream-pop. Jawnino and Surf Gang – Hit Again On new mixtape Amnesia, British MC Jawnino rolls over an assortment of cloud-rap instrumentals from Surf Gang, and this is one of its peaks, Jawnino alert and locked in as he observes the world of narcotics. Annabelle Chairlegs – Heavy Sleeper With production by Ty Segall, this song with a garage vibe chugs along entirely at its own pace, from runaway truck to the Austin musician’s dazed reverie about how “the moon gives me back my spirit”.