Ceti Alpha is the project of Dartmouth-based Nick Bevan-Johns. He
sings and writes all songs on Telemetry, his second album and
follow-up to 2006’s The Street. He also produces, plays guitar,
bass, mandolin, omnichord and more. But Bevan-Johns brings in others to
play parts—key parts—and to co-arrange this pretty pop melancholia.
“Darkside Hill,” for example, stands out for the lovely piano
arrangement written and played by a musician identified in liner notes
only as Dave McM. Rachel Schwartz’s cello adds moody depth on that and
other songs. Overall, the delivery is tentative, but that only gives
the music more dark charm.
This article appears in Jun 4-10, 2009.