DJ Moopie's Intriguingly Atmospheric Curated Collections along with This Week's Best New Tracks
Based in Melbourne
Perfect for fans of classic jangle-pop compilations, Antipodean jangle-pop, Mess Esque
Newest project The compilation 'Going Back to Sleep' is currently released
Melbourne-based DJ Moopie, AKA Matthew Xue, is celebrated for engrossing, wide-ranging sets that effortlessly shift between gelid ambient music to driving drum and bass and beyond. He is also the founder of A Colourful Storm – an exceptional independent record label that consistently exceeds expectations when it comes to issuing quirky and introspective pop experiments, from artists as disparate as percussionist Valentina Magaletti, based in London, dubby Hobart duo Troth, and esteemed multi-disciplinary artist Simon Fisher Turner.
The label's 2017 release was I Won’t Have to Think About You, a collection of delightful, C86-inspired indie pop. More recently, it has issued Going Back to Sleep, a record that acts as a companion piece which also functions as a carefully curated roadmap to some of the best twee-pop groups making music now. Daily Toll, a band from Sydney, whose 2025 debut A Profound Non-Event is an overlooked treasure of the year, present Time, a seven-minute daydream built on melodica and guitar. The duo Chateau, the duo of Al Montfort (Terry, Total Control) and Alex Macfarlane (the Stevens, Twerps), explore beat-driven, psychedelic-infused easy listening on How Long on the Platform, while Who Cares?, draw equally from moody vocalists 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 the sunny folk-pop of Netherlands-based duo the Hobknobs. It’s an unassuming compilation that’s destined to be deeply cherished and often cited among connoisseurs of all things delicate and deeply felt.
This Week’s Best New Tracks
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. “No cheesiness here – this is the truth!”
Daniel Blumberg and Amanda Seyfried – Clothed By the Sun
After securing this year's Oscar for Best Original Score, it's easy to picture Blumberg taking home the Best Original Song award in 2026 for this breathtaking duet with Seyfried taken from his soundtrack to The Testament of Ann Lee.
Jana Horn – All in Bet
Jana Horn, an artist based in Texas captures the full spectrum of a sigh in this opulently sad new song, as delicate traces of piano and flute shade her exhausted letdown.
Umor Rex – Lo Animal
It's not hard to picture this Madrid-based cellist’s industrial-tinged gothic opus on the soundtrack to Dune, thanks to its pounding percussion, metallic shrieks, haunting choral passages and end-times grandeur.
Zora Jones x DJ Polo – Hoes Link Up
The creative Austrian producer and singer joins forces with UK bass producer DJ Polo from Bristol to deliver pounding ghettotech: the percussion is overpowering yet the melody approaches dream-pop.
Jawnino and Surf Gang – Hit Again
Included on the latest mixtape, Amnesia, British MC Jawnino flows over diverse, ethereal rap production from Surf Gang, and this track is a highlight, Jawnino alert and locked in as he observes the world of narcotics.
Annabelle Chairlegs – Heavy Sleeper
Helmed by Ty Segall, this song with a garage vibe chugs along entirely at its own pace, transitioning from a freight-train momentum to the musician from Austin's dazed reverie about how “the moon gives me back my spirit”.
