On her new LP\u00a0\u2018Forever,\u2019 Midwife\u00a0combines ambient and dream pop into nuanced, reverb-soaked music that is equal parts haunting and moving. The album is informed by Denver-based multi-instrumentalist Madeline Johnston\u2019s experiences during + post-Rhinoceropolis, a local venue\/co-op where she lived until 2016, when its doors were shuttered due to high tensions surrounding the safety of DIY spaces (not coincidentally following the Ghost Ship tragedy in Oakland).\u00a0 Residents were displaced around Denver and artists like\u00a0Midwife\u00a0were forced to start over.\u00a0It was at Rhinoceropolis that Madeline became close with Colin Ward, an artistic confidant and friend to whom her new album, \u2018Forever,\u2019 is dedicated.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Madeline comments, \u201cHe was my roommate and was the embodiment of that place [Rhinoceropolis] in a lot of ways. We became really close friends there. I was always learning so much from him, about life and being an artist. He was an amazing teacher and friend to me.\u201d<\/em> \u00a0When Ward passed away unexpectedly in 2018, she turned towards sound to express the indescribable feelings that partnered with her grief and these mournful sounds ultimately developed into her new album,\u00a0\u2018Forever\u2019. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n