"Lovers Prayers" by Ida (Polyvinyl) - Out now

New York folk-rockers Ida have been honing this mellow thing for a while. The one-time duo has rounded out into a quintet over time, but they've preserved and cultivated the methodical calm that they started out with.

To give you a better idea of the sound, the original pairing, Daniel Littleton and Elizabeth Mitchell, now married, played on Lisa Loeb's hit "Stay (I Missed You)." Since then, they've released a bunch of albums - including three of children's music - and been joined by a bassist, drummer and violinist, filling out the band.

And while they have the necessary elements to be a loud rock band, they stray as far from that as possible. This is music you can fall asleep to. Perfect for relaxing with a cup of tea, if that's your thing.

Ida's mellow sound isn't like that of some more mainstream mellow acts, like Jack Johnson, or going back further, James Taylor. Instead, they rely on sparse, subtle instrumentation and deft male-female harmonies.

When the album gets rolling with the title track, that's about as fast as it goes. The rest is slow, methodical, melodious march. And it can be maddeningly slow at times. But again, this is all intentional and each space is filled with sound, even if it's a whisk on snare drum or guitar arpeggio.

No song encapsulates the style better than "Gravity," and gravity is a good word for their music in many senses of the word. It pulls you down and forces you to slow your pace, in order to catch everything.

And that's what makes it perfect calm-down listening. Just don't listen while operating heavy machinery.

Download this track now: Gravity