* En anglais uniquement
Formed in 1992 by the core duo of singers/guitarists
Daniel Littleton and
Elizabeth Mitchell,
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 the Hated; after their 1989 demise, he continued in a series of bands including Three Shades of Dirty, Choke, and Slack, which also featured future
Tsunami frontwoman
Jenny Toomey.
Mitchell, meanwhile, began performing as one half of an acoustic duo with singer/songwriter (and fellow Brown University alum)
Lisa Loeb. Both
Mitchell and
Littleton later played on
Loeb's breakthrough hit "Stay," which became a smash hit during the same year as
Ida's debut.
After signing to
Toomey'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
Beekeeper 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
Liquorice with
Toomey and
His Name Is Alive's
Trey Many; additionally, he and
Mitchell 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