Fredrik Saroea with BIT20 Ensemble - Rona Diaries: Chamber Versions Live At The Grieg Hall, Bergen Fredrik Saroea

• Bjørn Morten Christophersen, Fredrik Saroea: I'm a Rock (Chamber Version):
• 1 Christophersen, Saroea: I'm a Rock (Chamber Version) 02:58
• Battered & Bruised (Chamber Version):
• 2 Christophersen, Saroea: Battered & Bruised (Chamber Version) 02:37
• Bulletproof Vest (Chamber Version):
• 3 Christophersen, Saroea: Bulletproof Vest (Chamber Version) 03:24
• The End (Chamber Version):
• 4 Christophersen, Saroea: The End (Chamber Version) 02:53
• A Matter of Dying (Chamber Version):
• 5 Christophersen, Saroea: A Matter of Dying (Chamber Version) 02:37
• Bergheim (Chamber Version):
• 6 Christophersen, Saroea: Bergheim (Chamber Version) 02:31
• Understatement Lovesong (Chamber Version):
• 7 Christophersen, Saroea: Understatement Lovesong (Chamber Version) 02:01
• Stray Cats (Chamber Version):
• 8 Christophersen, Saroea: Stray Cats (Chamber Version) 02:04
• Dragging You Down (Chamber Version):
• 9 Christophersen, Saroea: Dragging You Down (Chamber Version) 02:08
• The Family You Got to Choose (Chamber Version):
• 10 Christophersen, Saroea: The Family You Got to Choose (Chamber Version) 02:29
• Feather in the Cap (Chamber Version):
• 11 Christophersen, Saroea: Feather in the Cap (Chamber Version) 01:41
• Heaven Knows Those Songs Weren't Heaven Sent (Chamber Version):
• 12 Christophersen, Saroea: Heaven Knows Those Songs Weren't Heaven Sent (Chamber Version) 02:21
• Total Runtime 29:44

Info for Fredrik Saroea with BIT20 Ensemble - Rona Diaries: Chamber Versions Live At The Grieg Hall, Bergen

Best known as the frontman of critically-acclaimed global disco-punk outfit DATAROCK, Norway’s favorite son Fredrik Saroea has replaced the bass-heavy dance beats for strings – lots of strings. Teaming up with the award-winning BIT20 Ensemble (Martin Shultz on violin, Liene Klava on viola, Agnese Rugevica on cello, Johannes Wik on harp with arrangements by Bjørn Morten Christophersen), Saroea has merged his passion for indie rock with the sweeping pastoral soundscapes of the string quartet.

“I realized there were similarities to the feel of Ennio Morricone’s amazing music from Giuseppe Tornatore’s wonderful film Cinema Paradiso, so I named the song after the Cinema Paradiso of my own childhood,” says Saroea about the inspiration for his debut single. “As a kid growing up on an island in Norway, we had our own provincial cinema called Bergheim, and that cinema also served as a community house, a gym for indoor soccer practice, a concert venue – and even housed parties and discos. So I guess the song is a wordless sentimental gaze back to an innocent childhood.” (Fredrik Saroea)

Recorded at the infamous Grieg Hall during Norway's 69th annual Bergen International Festival (which took place on May 28, 2021), both “Bergheim” and “Understatement Lovesong” were premiered to an unsuspecting public who were more familiar with his former band’s rhythmic brand of dance music. Now presenting an entirely different side to his songwriting with a lyrical and instrumental chamber piece in “Bergheim,” Saroea is leaning to a wholly different creative muse.

The album was mixed in Los Angeles by the three-time GRAMMY® winner Mark Rankin (Adele, Queens of the Stone Age, Iggy Pop, Weezer, Foster the People, Florence and the Machine, Harry Styles) in Los Angeles, and mastered by Mike Marsh in Exmouth, Devon.

The single’s artwork was created by renowned artist Magnus Voll Mathiassen who worked on Rihanna’s Unapologetic and 2021’s Oscars.

"Arguably De-evolution is all too real presently, but DATAROCK’s Fredrik Saroea seems like he’s not having any of that with his new solo release. I’m gobsmacked by the new direction. I particularly like the smart lyrics, which, frankly, I expected. My personal favourite overall is “A Matter of Dying” because of Fredrik’s vocal effects and the space his vocal occupies in the mix. It’s just right and present enough. I hope there is more where this came from!" (DEVO’s Gerald V. Casale, USA)

"Each song has a strain of melancholy within shells of subtle prettiness, each feels perfect for a bedsit wallow but also a quiet dance in the shadows, and each feels like it’s actually secretly fun to tap into that not quite lost part of ourselves." (Bernard Zuel, Australia)

Fredrik Saroea, guitar, vocals
BIT20 Ensemble:
Martin Shultz, violin
Liene Klava, viola
Agnese Rugevica, cello
Johannes Wik, harp

Fredrik Saroea
Best known as the frontman of critically-acclaimed global disco-punk outfit DATAROCK, Norway’s favorite son Fredrik Saroea has replaced the bass-heavy dance beats for strings – lots of strings. Teaming up with the award-winning BIT20 Ensemble (Martin Shultz on violin, Liene Klava on viola, Agnese Rugevica on cello, Johannes Wik on harp with arrangements by Bjørn Morten Christophersen), Saroea has merged his passion for indie rock with the sweeping pastoral soundscapes of the string quartet. His debut single “Bergheim” b/w “Understatement Lovesong,” is released today, December 17, 2021.

This album contains no booklet.