The first of two completed albums liberated from the clutches of
Capitol
in the wake of a recording deal gone bad,
Will You Find Me
projects all the confidence of the major label debut it was intended to be --
Ida
's most cohesive and haunting album to date, it's also their most direct, articulating the messy entanglements of desire and heartbreak with startling clarity. Although at least five of the album's 14 songs previously appeared on scattered singles and EPs, these new re-recordings benefit enormously from their improved production, uncluttered yet inventive arrangements, and the luminous vocal interplay of
Elizabeth Mitchell
,
Daniel Littleton
, and
Karla Schickele
; similarly, where in the past the group's lyrics sometimes strained too far for poetic resonance, the songs on
reveal a new honesty and simplicity -- the rising and falling harmonies that conclude
"Maybelle,"
arguably
's most singularly beautiful moment on record, communicate emotional depths that transcend language altogether. ~ Jason Ankeny