Cloakroom formed in Indiana in June 2012, developing a sound that drew equally from shoegaze's textured reverb, 1990s slowcore melancholy, and hardcore's physical weight, with reference points including Hum and Red House Painters. Their debut Further Out appeared in 2015, and the band went on to release Time Well (2017) and Dissolution Wave (2022) on Relapse Records. Their 2025 album Last Leg of the Human Table continued their exploration of heavy, introspective guitar music.

Midwife is the solo project of Madeline Johnston, initially developed within Denver, Colorado's DIY community around 2017. Johnston's sound — which she calls "heaven metal" — layers minimalist guitar, vocals, and ambient textures to create slowcore and shoegaze-inflected meditations on grief and loss. Albums including Forever (2020) and Luminol (2021) have earned her critical acclaim for their quiet emotional intensity.