Midwife shines and smoulders on ‘Christina’s World’

Midwife has shared her new single Christina’s World. The song is lifted from her new album ‘Luminol,’ out on July 16. Watch the Alana Wool-directed video for the lead single via YouTube below.

Midwife is the moniker of multi-instrumentalist Madeline Johnston; she lives and works in San Miguel, New Mexico by way of Denver, Colorado, where she spent the better half of the past decade developing her experimental pop project. When 2020 began, Johnston had several national and international tours planned (including a highly anticipated set at the year’s Roadburn Festival) to promote her album released just prior, the critically-acclaimed ‘Forever’.

Unfortunately, the pandemic rescheduled everything and Madeline shifted her focus back to recording and back to her internal landscape. ‘Luminol’ was written and produced during this time, and the album features 6 new songs which explore dark subject matter in her trademark dark yet crystalline manner.   

’Luminol’ album details

Luminol is a chemical used by forensic investigators to reveal trace amounts of blood left at a crime scene. When it reacts with blood, luminol emits a chemiluminescent blue glow that can be seen in a darkened room. In the same way this chemical reveals evidence at a scene, Midwife is interested in profound truth— turning trial and tribulation into sources of light. ‘Luminol’ navigates themes of incarceration, locus of control, clarity, self harm, confinement, agency, and truth-seeking, all erupting in a bioluminescent Rothko color-field of blue. The ‘Luminol’ album cover shows a dark figure standing at the edge of a body of water. It symbolizes the way humanity had been on a precipice throughout 2020, to later find out they had been there all along. Being one of Midwife’s most personal records, the cover artwork for ‘Luminol’ is a picture of Madeline Johnston’s mother taken in the 1980’s, when she was the same age as Madeline at the time of the album’s recording. By redacting the figure, Johnston hopes that anyone could see themselves there, by the water, as a form leftover when all the elements of their lives are stripped away and what is left is a host.   

‘Luminol’ features collaborations from various artists and on Christina’s World, Midwife is joined by Flenser label mate Dan Barrett (Have A Nice Life) for additional vocals and keyboards, and additional guitars by Tucker Theorore.  ‘Luminol’ also features contributions from Angel Diaz (Vyva Melinkolya), Zachary Cole Smith, Ben Newman, and Colin Caulfield (DIIV). 

‘Luminol’ track listing
1.  God Is A Cop
2.  Enemy
3.  2020
4.  Colorado
5.  Promise Ring
6.  Christina’s World

‘Luminol’ will be released on July 16th via The Flenser and is available for pre-order now.