Midwife is the primary project of American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and recording engineer Madeline Johnston (Madeline Elizabeth Johnston), based in San Miguel, New Mexico, United States. She previously lived in Denver, Colorado, where the project first took shape within the city’s DIY community and the artist collective Rhinoceropolis.
Johnston also records under the names Sister Grotto, Mariposa, and Mercury Tracer. Her sound — often described as “heaven metal” — combines dream pop, slowcore, and ambient textures with lyrical themes of loss, grief, and transcendence. She has described her work as “emotive music about devastation — catharsis.”
The first Midwife release, Like Author, Like Daughter (2017), was followed by the Prayer Hands EP (2018), Forever (2020), and Luminol (2021), which featured guest contributions from members of DIIV and Have a Nice Life.
In 2023, Johnston collaborated with Vyva Melinkolya on Orbweaving, recorded in the deserts of New Mexico. The album merges Midwife’s introspective “heaven metal” aesthetic with Vyva Melinkolya’s sentimental shoegaze influences, forming a deeply atmospheric work of mutual catharsis.
Her fourth solo album, No Depression in Heaven (2024), was released through The Flenser. Written largely while touring, the record explores impermanence, memory, and finding solace on the road, featuring contributions from collaborators including Chris Adolf, Allison Lorenzen, Ben Schurr, Michael Stein, and Vyva Melinkolya.
Midwife’s music continues to expand the boundaries of ethereal and emotionally charged experimental pop, blending the fragility of confession with the weight of drone and distortion.
Bandcamp • The Flenser .
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