Midwife

Under the name Midwife, Madeline Johnston has, from Denver to New Mexico, been developing a body of work that sits at the crossroads of slowcore, dream pop, ambient and drone, with slow, stripped-down songs where the saturated, enveloping guitar and the almost whispered voice take center stage. This solo project took shape after Mariposa and Sister Grotto, two aliases that illuminate the evolution of her music—from a more spectral folk toward what she has described as 'heaven metal', an aesthetic that is at once soft and dense. Midwife emerged with Like Author, Like Daughter in 2017, recorded within the context of Denver's DIY scene and Rhinoceropolis, an important venue in her career. The project gained visibility with Forever in 2020, an album haunted by grief, followed by Luminol in 2021, which extended this minimalist and suspended approach. Midwife has also developed several collaborations, notably In / Heaven in 2020 with Amulets, Mark Trecka and Susan Alcorn, then Orbweaving in 2023 with Vyva Melinkolya. In 2024, Midwife continues this work with No Depression in Heaven. Through Midwife, Madeline Johnston builds slow, frontal music at the junction of atmospheric indie rock, slowed-down shoegaze and a form of sung ambient.