Heartwrenching bedroom shoegaze. Midwife are the Denver/Olympia duo of Sister Grotto (Madeline Johnston) and Tucker Theodore. Washes of fuzz and drone, painfully lovely guitar melodies, shouts across the void. Johnston wrote and partly recorded this at the DIY space Rhinoceropolis, which was also her home until the space’s closure in the wake of Ghost Ship. Emotionally intense to the point of feeling like an exorcism, these songs are raw and brave, pulled to the edge of depression and back and covered in a blanket of night fog. Highest recommendation. Play it loud. RIYL: Grouper, Emma Ruth Rundle, Nothing, an underwater Low. Favorites; 1, 2, 5, 7, 8. FCC WARNING: 6.

1. *(3:52)—Slow, lumbering, epic, heavy, ringing, washed-out rock. Intense.
2. *(5:04)—Slow. Spectral midnight guitar. Deep, pulsing beat.
3. (7:05)—Instrumental. Drifting, interlocked slowcore guitars.
4. (5:21)—Slow, minimal beat. Drifting, lovely, made devastating by her “ready to die / not ready to die” mantra.
5. *(5:40)—Fragile guitar melodies over soft power chords. Spiraling vocals.
6. (4:55)—FCC (s***). Chugging mid-tempo beat. Fuzzed-out. Faded vocal duet.
7. *(4:27)—Slow, doomy, distorted drums. Dark, deep guitars.
8. *(4:40)—Medium-slow beat. Triumphant, almost poppy. Like a lo-fi Cocteau Twins.
9. (9:25)—Very slow beat, rippling distorted guitar. A cascade of voices.