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Based in Melbourne
Recommended if you like the C86 indie pop sound, Australian and New Zealand guitar pop, Mess Esque
Latest release 'Going Back to Sleep' is available now

Matthew Xue, who performs under the moniker DJ Moopie in Melbourne, is celebrated for deeply absorbing musical journeys that often traverse from icy, atmospheric ambience to driving drum and bass plus other genres. He also runs A Colourful Storm – an exceptional independent record label that massively punches above its weight when it comes to issuing quirky and introspective pop experiments, featuring a diverse roster including London-based percussionist Valentina Magaletti, the dub-infused sounds of Hobart pair 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 quasi-sequel to that record which doubles as a carefully curated roadmap to several excellent bands in the gentle pop sphere making music now. The Sydney group Daily Toll, whose 2025 debut A Profound Non-Event is a hidden jewel from this year, offer Time, a seven-minute daydream built on melodica and guitar. Chateau, the pair, the duo of Al Montfort (Terry, Total Control) and Alex Macfarlane (the Stevens, Twerps), push into rhythmic, trippy lounge music on How Long on the Platform, and the band Who Cares?, draw equally from the styles of Hope Sandoval and Eartheater on Wax and Wane.

In other tracks, Going Back to Sleep showcases songs by Bay Area indie fixtures 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 likely to grow into a beloved and regularly mentioned resource for aficionados of art that is gentle and profoundly emotional.

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