Ionel "Nelu" Ceban
a Roma settlement outside Sibiu, Romania
Ionel "Nelu" Ceban, a 24-year-old butcher from the Roma settlement outside Sibiu, carries with him the weight of three missing fingers lost in a tragic machine accident. Naming them Ticu, Lelu, and Sorin helps him maintain a connection to what's lost, a private ritual that gives him solace. Each day, he finds order in the shadows of power lines, aligning his work and cutting rhythm to their structured dance, an obsession that lingers in his night-time worries about his scarred, cold hand and the stability of his livelihood.
About
Obsession
Shadows of power lines as musical notation
Voice
Steady metronome in fading light
Genre
Peripheral Ambient Folk
Instrumentation
Acoustic guitar, butcher knives, field recordings of power line hum
Vocal Style
Breathy whispers with syncopated breath in-takes
Production Style
Recorded in the storeroom of the grocery, incorporating the natural acoustics of swinging hooks and fridge hum
Influences
The rhythm of the butcher shop, shadows crossing the yard, stories from his Roma heritage
Selected 1 time · Last: April 12, 2026