The glockenspiel makes it sound sweet. But the unease that Melbourne alt-pop musician Daine contemplates on their debut album In Endless Awe & Agony — the flattening of culture, class competition’s chokehold on creativity, battling subconscious desires — is not an easy pill to swallow. “I’m not really a person/ I’m a product of profit/ And I’ll eat you for it,” they sing during the chorus of the thorny single “Product Of Profit (P.O.P).” Synths hum underneath them, while drums steadily carry their docile vocals. But a teetering glockenspiel continues to imbue the track with a sentimental twinkle even when their voice begins to curdle into an acidic scream during the chorus. It’s like watching someone dawn a Pan Am smile while wielding a knife.

I’m initially supposed to meet with Daine to chat over lunch, but our meeting shifts to a Zoom call as they recover from a cold.…