DATAROCK’s Fredrik Saroea Teams Up With BIT20 Ensemble For Melancholy “A Matter of Dying” From Rona Diaries: Chamber Version LP

DATAROCK’S FREDRIK SAROEA
TEAMS UP WITH BIT20 ENSEMBLE FOR MELANCHOLY NEW SINGLE
“A MATTER OF DYING”

Rona Diaries: The Chamber Versions Live at Greig Hall, Bergen Set for Release on May 13, 2022 via YAP Records

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MARCH 22, 2022 (NORWAY) – “For ‘A Matter of Dying,’ the strings are falling somewhat sadly in their melodic movements on top of a sturdy harp – but they’re also offering beauty and nuance to the lyrical content, seemingly agreeing to the simple truth of the statements,” says Fredrik Saroea, about his new single with BIT20 Ensemble. Taken off of his upcoming album Rona Diaries: The Chamber Versions Live at Greig Hall, Bergen (Yap Records; release date May 13, 2022) “A Matter of Dying” combines his rich pastoral indie rock stylings with the chamber sounds of a four-piece string ensemble,  creating a gorgeously complex merge of orchestral soundscapes with a guitar-focused rock sensibility.  

Best known as the frontman of the critically acclaimed global disco punk outfit DATAROCK, the Norwegian multi-genre artist re-envisioned his recent solo album Rona Diaries (2021) as a live piece with award-winning string quartet BIT20 Ensemble (Martin Shultz on violin, Liene Klava on viola, Agnese Rugevica on cello, Johannes Wik on harp with arrangements by Bjørn Morten Christophersen), merging his contemplative indie rock with the exquisite air of a chamber orchestra.  He adds, “‘A Matter of Dying’ was originally somewhat inspired by [indie rock band] Blonde Redhead  and all about accepting the ephemeral fluidity of life.” 

Recorded at the infamous Grieg Hall during Norway’s 69th annual Bergen International Festival (which took place on May 28, 2021), “A Matter of Dying,” along with prior singles “Bulletproof Vest,” “Bergheim” and “Understatement Lovesong” as well as all the other tracks from Rona Diaries were premiered to an unsuspecting public who were more familiar with his former band’s rhythmic brand of dance music.

Saroea says “A Matter of Dying” with BIT20 is very different to the slightly Strokes-like arrangements on the original track (for his first solo album Rona Diaries).  “We didn’t keep any of the original melodic ornaments, but even though I’m very fond of the original version on Rona Diaries, I think this particular new variant turned out especially well, especially considering the fact that this is the very first time we performed any of this material.”

As COVID-19 shut down live music in 2020, Saroea started recording solo material that became his first solo album Rona Diaries at YAP Records’ studio in Bergen, Norway with the help of DATAROCK drummer Øyvind Solheim engineering, mixing and co-producing. The 12 songs were then mastered by UK’s GRAMMY®-nominated Mike Marsh (Björk, Massive Attack, Basement Jaxx, Depeche Mode) and released May 28, 2021.

Featured in “Best Of” lists from Rolling Stone to NME  and headlining festivals from Coachella, Lollapalooza, Reading and Leeds, Saroea’s band DATAROCK impacted music scenes worldwide while also infiltrating both the videogame market with inclusion in FIFA and Sims and the commercial environ with ads for Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung and Coca Cola.  While their singles including the smash “Fa-Fa-Fa” cemented them as dance sensations, Saroea moonlighted as a restaurateur by opening world famous and Michelin-rated restaurants Lysverket and Hoggorm in Norway. 

Rona Diaries: The Chamber Versions Live At The Greig Hall, Bergen includes chamber versions of the Rona Diaries tracks plus two bonus DATAROCK tracks.  It was mixed in Los Angeles by the two-time GRAMMY® winner Mark Rankin (Adele, Weezer, Florence and the Machine, Harry Styles) and mastered by Mike Marsh in the UK.  The album artwork was created by renowned artist Magnus Voll Mathiassen who worked on Rihanna’s Unapologetic and 2021’s Oscars.

1. I’m a Rock
2. Battered & Bruised
3. Bulletproof Vest
4. The End
5. A Matter of Dying
6. Bergheim 
7. Understatement Love Song 
8. Stray Cats
9. Dragging You Down
10. The Family You Got to Choose
11. Feather in the Cap
12 Heaven Knows Those Songs Weren’t Heaven Sent
13. Catcher in the Rye (Bonus)
14. Laugh in the Face of Darkness (Bonus)

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