Midwife

Midwife creates a blend of shoegaze, lo-fi and dream pop. She herself describes her music as ‘Heaven Metal’.

For almost ten years now, Madeline Johnston, aka Midwife, has undoubtedly been one of the leading figures in the indie-ambient scene with a penchant for shoegaze. The musician and producer, who is based in the southern United States, is known for her pared-back, experimental music, which allows her to cast a peculiar, concentrated silence over the room at her gigs. Her minimalist guitar work, with its repetitive structures, creates hypnotic, mesmerising soundscapes. Over this floats an unhurried voice, plenty of reverb, and soundscapes with loose ends.

Among her most striking releases was undoubtedly Luminol (Flenser Records, 2021), with which Midwife carved out a cosy spot for herself in the heavy music scene. Their latest album No Depression In Heaven (ibid., 2024), recorded at home, marked a return to a simple DIY production style.

The central theme in Midwife’s lyrics is grief, and she has even described it as mourning ‘the world as we know it’. Something we’re probably all experiencing collectively at the moment: we’re mourning the future, but in the here and now. Midwife provides the soundtrack to it.