♫♪  Midwife - “Angel”

Devo hollered about “Praying Hands,” but Madeline Johnston (Sister Grotto) whispers as she folds hers, internalizing thoughts directed at something bigger than herself, or maybe just to herself. In a time where overt proselytizing is a near constant explosion of rhetoric directed toward anyone who will listen — without really any regard for the listener in any way — until lungs are raw and throat is cracked, Johnston and guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Tucker Theodore as Midwife take the opposite approach, cringing away from corporate (in a group sense) liturgy and finding the spiritual path within.

With “Angel,” the first track from the forthcoming Prayer Hands EP on Antiquated Future (releasing July 29), Johnston and Theodore insulate themselves once again from the outside world, cloaking their hymns in the gauzy textures of the minimalist shoegaze they’ve been perfecting. Floating on an ethereal plane occupied by likeminded souls such as Liz Harris and Windy and Carl (and even Starflyer 59 in their quieter moments, especially “Help Me When You’re Gone”), Midwife extends the luscious beauty of 2016’s Like Author, Like Daughter, allowing “Angel” to hover like its titular being as its warmth and glory envelops us. Light physically manifests within our hearts upon listening, extending to our extremities. The “Angel” is within us — was there all along. Our prayers are quiet, safe, answered.


Chocolate Grinder

CHOCOLATE GRINDER is our audio/visual section, with an emphasis on the lesser heard and lesser known. We aim to dig deep, but we’ll post any song or video we find interesting, big or small.

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