A lot of have been through a lot, seemingly an obvious thing to say at any time in history, but man, I don’t know. It’s been hard for a lot of people. Emotions have been at a high and have made a lot of what some face even harder to absorb. Escapism is a natural fruitful way to address our wounds and try to find a place to grab a little solace.
Madeline Johnston is the sole creator behind Midwife, the mostly guitar-and-vocals-driven music she has created over three full-length records, her latest being “No Depression in Heaven.” If you’re familiar with her music, there won’t be much of a musical adjustment to make here, so there’s a bit of comfort there. But over these seven tracks and 37 minutes, Johnston visits familiar themes such as the balance of fantasy and reality, slipping into dark dreamscapes to address your wounds, and the grief that is attached basically stabs into the heart of our losses. The slowcore elements long a part of Johnston’s music remain in full, but there’s so much going on beneath the water surface that repeat listens are required to mine it all, and once you do, it makes this treasure that much more valuable.
“Rock N Roll Never Forgets” eases you into the record, Johnston’s hushed vocals paving the path, dreamgaze mood stretching its arms for a dark embrace. Slide guitars ease as the mood thickens, the title continually repeated as in a medicine-head haze, guitars swirling into a dreamy pillow of sound. “Autoluminescent” has guitars lapping, dark words raining down, melodies and emotions gliding into the shadows. The playing has a sense of strangeness that makes it feel like you’re hovering above the planet in a UFO, strapped in and accepting of your fate, detached from your body as the playing slips away. “Droving” has guitars thawing, synth layering over top, Johnston warbling, “It’s like sleepwalking.” Indeed, much of the music has that sense about it, which makes it even easier to slip into fully, Johnston then leveling with, “The pain is easy when it’s all you know.” Light rumbles through dark, sonic waves crashing as a surfy snippet of Santo & Johnny’s classic “Sleepwalk” carries us home.
“Vanessa” opens with beats scraping, guitars dripping, as the singing soothes, Johnston calling, “I know how it ends,” and later pleading, “I know that you tried.” The playing is tender and lonesome, spiraling underneath a spacious sky, lulling and numbing, melting into dreams. “Killdozer” opens with a cool riff and the singing icing wounds, the sounds coming more directly and less ensconced in fog. Keys lather as Johnston admits, “I remember everything,” keys chilling before she cuts with, “I want something real,” eventually dissolving into pooled waters. “Better Off Alone” has guitars glowing, Johnston pleading, “Talk to me,” repeatedly as keys breeze into the passage. The song is blunt and direct, even if it feels like it’s trying to soften your landing, ending feeling emotionally raw. The title track brings the record to a close, the guitars shimmering lullaby style, hushed singing and looped calls of, “Crying” getting into your psyche. The guitars burn and trickle, wordless calls lead you into a calming passage, spiraling out into the end of a dream.
“No Depression in Heaven” is another record from Midwife that’s unlike most of what you’ll hear this year, and while it has strains of her previous work, it also stands apart a bit. Sure, the music still sounds minimalist on the surface, and you wouldn’t be wrong to call it that, but that would be ignoring everything that’s going on beneath the surface emotionally and psychologically. We all strive to become something we believe in, and all of our experiences and relationships help bring that into greater focus, this music giving you a cloudy mattress on which to land your bloodied heart.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/hvnmtl/
To buy the album, go here: https://nowflensing.com/collections/midwife
For more on the label, go here: https://nowflensing.com/
Meat Mead Metal 