Ida

Formed in 1992 by the core duo of singers/guitarists Daniel Littleton and <a href="spotify:artist:3gBQ1U5dXpRXS6tlbyNTDM">Elizabeth Mitchell</a>, Ida is an indie folk-pop act hailing from New York. Littleton emerged in 1985 as a member of the Annapolis, Maryland-based punk group <a href="spotify:artist:6kPlAvh6jRUsJ9P6QuXtEp">the Hated</a>; after their 1989 demise, he continued in a series of bands including Three Shades of Dirty, Choke, and <a href="spotify:artist:37QI4Fh09po4BqRN19CFee">Slack</a>, which also featured future <a href="spotify:artist:4nYZwJrT4QukNO5FqaDcW3">Tsunami</a> frontwoman <a href="spotify:artist:7DnEbAhsCTvlXzqnmqf3qh">Jenny Toomey</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:3gBQ1U5dXpRXS6tlbyNTDM">Mitchell</a>, meanwhile, began performing as one half of an acoustic duo with singer/songwriter (and fellow Brown University alum) <a href="spotify:artist:1TMMyiSsNzmRiZCAkVLVb2">Lisa Loeb</a>. Both <a href="spotify:artist:3gBQ1U5dXpRXS6tlbyNTDM">Mitchell</a> and Littleton later played on <a href="spotify:artist:1TMMyiSsNzmRiZCAkVLVb2">Loeb</a>'s breakthrough hit "Stay," which became a smash hit during the same year as Ida's debut.

After signing to <a href="spotify:artist:7DnEbAhsCTvlXzqnmqf3qh">Toomey</a>'s Simple Machines label, Ida introduced their sound in 1994 with Tales of Brave Ida, a luminous collection of languid, minimalist pop songs. Following the addition of Littleton's brother Michael (formerly of Baltimore's Hassassins) on drums, they returned in 1996 with the stunning I Know About You. The addition of <a href="spotify:artist:0U8a4q5pqigkB5lpYIq1VN">Beekeeper</a> bassist Karla Schickele preceded 1997's brilliant Ten Small Paces, and that same lineup resurfaced a year later with an EP, Losing True. While still a member of Ida, Dan Littleton also played in <a href="spotify:artist:42EvxKNJpBkwHapldiwvOf">Liquorice</a> with <a href="spotify:artist:7DnEbAhsCTvlXzqnmqf3qh">Toomey</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4LMQqMZYbFJgvxBOzshZVL">His Name Is Alive</a>'s Trey Many; additionally, he and <a href="spotify:artist:3gBQ1U5dXpRXS6tlbyNTDM">Mitchell</a> were wed in late 1999, shortly after brother Michael's exit from the group. Following an ill-fated major label stay at Capitol, Ida finally released the full-length Will You Find Me on the Tiger Style imprint in the summer of 2000. A year later, the group returned with The Braille Night. The remix album Shhh.... was Ida's only full-length release until 2005, when Polyvinyl issued Heart Like a River. Three years later, the group released their seventh album, Lovers Prayers, as well as an intimate EP entitled My Fair, My Dark. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi