Cocoon

Cocoon is a French folk duo from Clermont-Ferrand, formed in 2006 by Mark Daumail and Morgane Imbeaud. It is active from 2006 to the present and performs as a male-female pairing, with Daumail on lead vocals and a range of acoustic instruments, and Imbeaud providing vocal harmonies, keyboards and arrangements.

Style and language

The group sings entirely in English. Its music sits in folk and indie folk, with acoustic elements. Daumail describes the project as a folk counterpart to a male-female rock duo, and says the music draws on older British folk groups such as The Pentangle and Fairport Convention as well as the later “new folk” scene associated with CocoRosie, Devendra Banhart and Sufjan Stevens.

Career

Cocoon releases its first EP, I Hate Birds, in 2006 and wins the Big Jama regional contest the same year. In 2007 it signs to the French indie label Sober & Gentle. The group then releases a second EP, From Panda Mountains, followed by its first album, My Friends All Died in a Plane Crash. It also wins the CQFD competition organised by the French magazine Les Inrockuptibles and appears in the new talent sections at Le Printemps de Bourges and Les Eurockéennes de Belfort.

Members

Mark Daumail is born in 1984 and is credited with composition, lead vocals, acoustic guitar, ukelele, banjo and beatbox, among other roles. Morgane Imbeaud is born in 1987 and contributes vocal harmonies, keyboards and arrangements.