Ida - Lovers Prayers

  by Jamie Rowland

published: 29 / 1 / 2008

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Review

The musical partnership of married couple Daniel Littleton and Elizabeth Mitchell, also known as Ida, has been in action since 1992, producing 11 EPs and albums of sweeping, emotional pop. 'Lover's Prayers' is their seventh full-length album. Ida’s music has been described in the past as quite sparse, but there songs have always seemed very rich and deep to me. The songs are most often piano-led, with guitars, strings and rhythm sections layering the compositions up, and the cherry on the cake being Littleton and Mitchell’s vocal harmonies (only to be matched by Low’s Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, a band often said to closely resemble Ida in style – they’ve toured together in the past). If you know Ida’s work, then 'Lover’s Prayers' will not disappoint. In my opinion, there could be a no more relaxing way to spend an afternoon than listening to these 14 tracks of beautifully constructed indie-love-pop (a genre I don’t think has been coined before, but I’m going to see if it catches on); they are the perfect accompaniment to a sitting room-based nap on the sofa, circa 3pm on a Sunday. And I mean that in a good way. The problem I have with this album is that by the 6th track, you really want them to put a bit of oomph into it; just kick off a bit and really hammer their instruments. They’re certainly more than capable of this, as one listen to their 2001 song ‘Blizzard of 78’ will prove, but they never show it on 'Lover’s Prayers'. The songs tread a little too relentlessly softly-softly for my liking, and it makes the album difficult to take in one sitting (unless, as I suggest, you take a nap). Don’t get me wrong, I really like all the songs on this record, and I love Ida as a band, but personally I feel they could have benefited from getting a little more aggressive on this album, just to mix up the pace a bit. Still, well worth getting hold of.

Track Listing:-

1 Lovers Prayer
2 The Weight Of The Straw
3 The Love Below
4 Willow Tree
5 Worried Mind Blues
6 Gravity
7 For Shame Of Doing Wrong
8 First Light
9 Kora
10 Surely Gone
11 The Killers 1964
12 See The Stars
13 First Take
14 Blue Clouds

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