Matthew Xue's Intriguingly Atmospheric Curated Collections and The Week's Top Fresh Releases

Hailing from Melbourne
Recommended if you like the C86 compilation, Australian and New Zealand guitar pop, art-pop experimentation
Latest release 'Going Back to Sleep' is available now

Melbourne-based DJ Moopie, AKA Matthew Xue, has built a reputation for engrossing, wide-ranging sets that can run the gamut from gelid ambient music to driving drum and bass plus other genres. He is also the founder of A Colourful Storm – a remarkable DIY imprint that delivers far beyond its size when it comes to putting out endearingly atmospheric avant-pop, featuring a diverse roster including the rhythmic explorations of Valentina Magaletti, dubby Hobart duo Troth, and renowned underground polymath 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. This year saw the release of Going Back to Sleep, a record that acts as a companion piece which also functions as a neatly drawn guide to several excellent bands in the gentle pop sphere currently working. Sydney band Daily Toll, their 2025 first record A Profound Non-Event being an overlooked treasure of the year, present Time, a seven-minute daydream built on melodica and guitar. The duo Chateau, featuring members Al Montfort and Alex Macfarlane, venture into beat-driven, psychedelic-infused easy listening on How Long on the Platform, whereas the band Who Cares?, draw equally from moody vocalists Hope Sandoval and Eartheater on Wax and Wane.

Elsewhere, Going Back to Sleep showcases songs by Bay Area indie fixtures the Reds, Pinks and Purples; minimalist Sydney group the Lewers; and the sunny folk-pop of Netherlands-based duo the Hobknobs. This is a modest collection that’s likely to grow into deeply cherished and often cited with fans of all things delicate and deeply felt.

Fresh Tracks of the Week

Flea – A Plea
A rare solo track from the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist, and a magnificently realised one: driving yet inquisitive soul-infused 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
Having won this year’s best original score Oscar, you can imagine Blumberg winning best original song in 2026 for this stunning Seyfried duet taken from 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 on this richly despondent return, in which minimal hints of keys and wind instruments shade her exhausted letdown.

Umor Rex – Lo Animal
One might readily envision this Madrid-based cellist’s dark, gothic composition touched by industrial music featured in a Dune soundtrack, with its thundering drums, piercing industrial noises, haunting choral passages and apocalyptic grandeur.

Zora Jones x DJ Polo – Hoes Link Up
Austrian visionary Zora Jones collaborates with UK bass producer DJ Polo from Bristol to deliver pounding ghettotech: the beats are absolutely crushing but the melody is almost dream-pop.

Jawnino and Surf Gang – Hit Again
On new mixtape Amnesia, The UK's Jawnino flows over diverse, ethereal rap production by Surf Gang, with this song standing as a peak moment, Jawnino alert and locked in as he surveys the world of narcotics.

Annabelle Chairlegs – Heavy Sleeper
With production by Ty Segall, this garage-rock-influenced track chugs along entirely at its own pace, transitioning from a freight-train momentum to the Austin-based artist's hazy daydream about how “my spirit is restored by the moon”.