Ocoeur

"Au coeur" translated into English is simple: "to the heart" and French composer and sound designer designer Franck Zaragoza has re-appropriated this expression as Ocoeur. With each release his output has become more personal by interjecting emotions in a way that is neither heavy on melancholy or unpleasantly overwrought, while even sometimes, reflecting an artful playfulness.

Zaragoza started playing music when he was still a child. Having learned how to play the piano, he devoted most of his time to musical experimentation on rhythm and melody. After discovering electronic music, Franck became enamored with artists such as Vangelis, Brian Eno, Murcof or Aphex Twin which all influenced his future creativity.

He premiered his Ocoeur alias with the electronica and IDM influenced album Les Hommes ne savant pas voler on Barcelona-based label Musica Vermella. The album unveiled Zaragoza's taste for dreamlike, cinematic sounds. The release was received with enthusiasm, and was followed a few months later by the Per?evoir EP .

Shortly after few compilation appearances, Zaragoza signed Ocoeur to emotive electronics outpost n5MD for his debut physical release Light As A Feather. The album was much more intimate sounding than his previous works and was a significant step forward by mixing glitch textures and ethereal pads. The album garnered praise for its more sincere and precise style, both in terms of mood and meticulous sound design. The same year, saw the release of a 5-track EP. Memento, showcased three new songs in a more introspective sound, while Ben Lukas Boysen and Elise M?linand providing remixes from Light As A Feather.

A Parallel Life, his 3rd album was then released in 2014 (n5MD). This album became critically heralded for its use of sound design as a means to give expression to the emotive nature of the electronic ambient-IDM-techno compositions within. In that year Ocoeur would go on to play festivals in his native France, The Netherlands, and Italy. He has since shared the stage with the likes of Fennesz, Arovane, uZiq, and Kangding Ray.

In 2016 Zaragoza teamed up with n5MD again to release his 4th album Reversed. Reversed followed a more understated neo-classical approach with piano and strings featured more prominently while still utilizing Zaragoza's recognizable subtle electronic elements. Later that year Zaragoza composed two original compositions for physics-based building game Besiege. In 2017 he composed the original soundtrack for the film "In the starlight" directed by Mathieu Lelay and featuring photography by Paul Zizka.

In Summer of 2018, n5MD will release the 5th Ocoeur album, Inner. Inner finds Zaragoza in a place of compositional comfort utilizing all familiar Ocoeur techniques while staying fresh and limitless. Inner is the logical progression in the Ocoeur discography.