Les Clouds

Ystad, Sweden

Into the Misty Void

AmbientInstrumental

Behind the Music

At its core The Outlaw Ocean deals with the hardest conditions of human life and the very essence of existing — the sense of a never-ending endeavor under the harshest of conditions and, amidst all those struggles, a tone of hope and the capacity of perseverance. As I created my songs for The Outlaw Ocean Music Project, I wanted to draw from this ambiguity of life, revealing the reality of living on the high seas. Although I couldn’t possibly encompass the full extent of this experience, I hope I scratched the surface enough to make listeners want to learn more. 

Journalism is one of the cornerstones of a civilized world. Especially today, we need reporters like Ian who dedicate their lives to telling important stories that might get lost in mainstream media. Similarly, great art has the ability to spotlight relevant issues in society. It allows people to connect with abstract concepts on an emotional level, thus amplifying a message and further shining light on an idea. This particular topic has been in the dark for so long, so it’s vital we get people to pay attention to it through the unlikely combination of evocative music and nuanced reporting.

Les Clouds
About Les Clouds

Oscar Fogelstrom is a Swedish film music composer. As a composer, his music and creativity has shaped and underpinned film and TV productions for the past 20 years. One of his clients was Lasse Hallström, for whom he composed the score for Sweden's entry for the Academy Awards 2013, "The Hypnotist." Coming from a “pop music” background, Oscar incorporates many elements from the world of pop music production into his film scores. He uses analogue synths, electric guitars and various outboard gear mixed with traditional orchestral instruments to create an interesting blend of sounds in the style of Cliff Martinez, Johánn Johánnsson, Trent Reznor and Nils Frahm. 

Oscar’s score for Aurora by Yam Laranas was awarded “Best Overall score 2018” at reelmusic.com, in competition with Christophe Beck, Bear McCreary and Junkie XL and was pre-selected for the Public Choice Award at the World Soundtrack Awards.

As a songwriter and producer, his songs have garnered more than 150 million streams on Spotify and earned him several international gold and platinum albums. He has also been awarded two Swedish Grammys as a songwriter.

Les Clouds — cinematic soothing piano music from the south of Sweden.

Winner of the 2021 Scripps Howard Award for Excellence in Innovation in Journalism

The Journalism behind the Music

All music in this project is based on The Outlaw Ocean, a New York Times Best-Selling book by Ian Urbina that chronicles lawlessness at sea around the world. This reporting touches on a diversity of abuses ranging from illegal and overfishing, arms trafficking at sea, human slavery, gun running, intentional dumping, murder of stowaways, thievery of ships and other topics.

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