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Hailing from Melbourne
Recommended if you like the C86 compilation, AU/NZ jangle-pop, atmospheric pop
Latest release The compilation 'Going Back to Sleep' is currently released

Melbourne-based DJ Moopie, AKA Matthew Xue, has built a reputation for deeply absorbing musical journeys that effortlessly shift between gelid ambient music to pulsating breakbeats and beyond. He is also the founder of A Colourful Storm – an exceptional independent record label that massively punches above its weight when it comes to issuing endearingly atmospheric avant-pop, with contributors ranging from percussionist Valentina Magaletti, based in London, Troth, a bass-heavy duo from Hobart, 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. 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 active today. Daily Toll, a band from Sydney, whose 2025 debut A Profound Non-Event is an overlooked treasure of the year, offer Time, a seven-minute daydream built on melodica and guitar. Chateau, the duo of Al Montfort (Terry, Total Control) and Alex Macfarlane (the Stevens, Twerps), explore percussive, psychedelic lounge pop on How Long on the Platform, while Who Cares?, one of Melbourne's best new bands, channel equal parts moody vocalists 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 the sunny folk-pop of Netherlands-based duo the Hobknobs. It stands as a humble compilation that’s almost certain to become well-loved and frequently referenced for aficionados of all things delicate and deeply felt.

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