# DATAROCK’s Fredrik Saroea Teams Up With BIT20 For Bittersweet “Heaven Knows Those Songs Weren’t Heaven Sent”

- Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/datarocks-fredrik-saroea-teams-up-with-bit20-for-bittersweet-heaven-knows-those-songs-werent-heaven-sent/
- Published: 2022-04-19T15:05:24-05:00
- Author: Eugene Tierney

[[

“… here [Fredrik Saroea] is all classed up, laying down some serious nylon string
guitar work with the BIT20 Ensemble.” – **_Brooklyn Vegan_**

“Supported by BIT20’s sensuous strings, Saroea gets up close and personal with ‘
Bulletproof Vest’ – a heartfelt intimate number that belies its name.” – _**The 
Big Takeover**_

“The arrangement by Bjørn Morten Christophersen is nothing short of gorgeous.  The
lyrics penetrate with Saroea’s vocals aiming straight at your heart.  The song has
an aching beauty to it.” – **_Riff Magazine_**

“Similarly, the live album will dazzle anyone who listens to it.  Not only is the
sound in Grieg Hall extraordinary but Saroea’s voice and BIT20’s string quartet 
also bring an exceptional touch to each performance.” –** _Soundigest_**

“When it comes to his craft as an artist and songwriter, there is no one as capable
and high-minded as Fredrik Saroea.” – _**V13**_

**DATAROCK’S FREDRIK SAROEA AND BIT20 ENSEMBLE
FIND INSPIRATION IN NEIL YOUNG, ELLIOTT
SMITH, THE SMITHS FOR NEW SINGLE“HEAVEN KNOWS THOSE SONGS WEREN’T HEAVEN SENT”

**Premieres on [BlackBook](https://reybee.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984&id=aa0ffc08a7&e=615f2b8493)**

_**Rona Diaries: The Chamber Versions Live at Grieg Hall, Bergen**_** Set for Release
on June 10, 2022 **_**via**_** YAP Records**

**Pre-Save: [Here](https://reybee.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984&id=c2e10ea198&e=615f2b8493)**

**APRIL 19, 2022 (NORWAY) – **“This is the last song on my _**Rona Diaries**_ solo
album, and I guess it’s basically me pardoning the fact that I let myself write,
record and release such a sad and depressing collection of lockdown songs that the
listener just endured to the… bitter end, so to speak,” says **Fredrik Saroea** 
about his new single “**Heaven Knows Those Songs Weren’t Heaven Sent**” that premiered
on [**BlackBook**](https://reybee.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984&id=672b56d100&e=615f2b8493).
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**, merging his contemplative indie rock with the exquisite air of a chamber
orchestra. 

Fredrik Saroea with BIT20 Ensemble - Heaven Knows Those Songs Weren't Heaven Sent(
Chamber Version)

[⌊Fredrik Saroea with BIT20 Ensemble - Heaven Knows Those Songs Weren't Heaven
Sent (Chamber Version)⌉⌊Fredrik Saroea with BIT20 Ensemble - Heaven Knows Those 
Songs Weren't Heaven Sent (Chamber Version)⌉
Watch this video on YouTube

Fredrik Saroea with BIT20 Ensemble “Heaven Knows Those Songs Weren’t Heaven Sent”

Saroea says “Musically I suppose the original version – with just me and my guitar–
was somewhat inspired by everything from Mark Kozelek’s ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Singer’ or‘
What’s Next to the Moon’ to Neil Young’s ‘Harvest Moon’ or Elliott Smith’s ‘Needle
in the Hay’ – but I guess even very different formative artists are partly to blame
for this newly revealed side of my songwriting too; like Flying Saucer Attack’s ‘
Land Beyond the Sun’ for instance, or The Smiths’ absolute classics like ‘There 
Is a Light That Never Goes Out’, ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’ or ‘Asleep.”****_**
Rona Diaries: The Chamber Versions Live at Grieg Hall, Bergen**_** **is set for 
release on** June 10, 2022 **_via _**YAP Records.**

![](https://i0.wp.com/mcusercontent.com/f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984/images/d6d5b274-
7c1d-dc45-9d1f-a3e5c593ab73.jpg?resize=333%2C222&ssl=1)

**Fredrik Saroea with BIT20 Ensemble @ **_**Bergen International Festival **_ 
Photo
credit:** Thor Brødreskift**

Combining his passion for indie rock with sweeping pastoral soundscapes, Saroea 
and BIT20’s string quartet (**Martin Shultz** on violin, **Liene Klava** on viola,**
Agnese Rugevica **on cello,** Johannes Wik** on harp with arrangements by **Bjørn
Morten Christophersen**), will be releasing “Heaven Knows Those Songs Weren’t Heaven
Sent” today **Tuesday**, **April 19, 2022.  **BlackBook says “the chamber music 
version of the track comes off sonically and emotionally like a hauntingly beautiful
requiem for all those who were taken from us by the virus, and also a musical memento
for all of us who survived it. One imagines that when enough time has passed to 
collect the ‘coronavirus songbook’ – all those compositions whose existence will
be ultimately credited to what will have been the greatest health crisis of a generation(
or two or three) – this poignantly affective live recording of ‘Heaven Knows Those
Songs Weren’t Heaven Sent’ will have a particular pride of place amongst them.”

Recorded at the infamous _**Grieg Hall **_during Norway’s 69th annual _Bergen International
Festival _(which took place on May 28, 2021), “Heaven Knows Those Songs Weren’t 
Heaven Sent” along with prior singles, “**A Matter of Dying**,” “**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.  

![](https://i0.wp.com/mcusercontent.com/f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984/images/58eb1bcb-
40cc-5f1e-a669-ada4104eb5a7.jpg?resize=364%2C243&ssl=1)

**FREDRIK SAROEA**
Photo credit: **Tove Lise Mossestad**

“The chamber version of ‘Heaven Knows Those Songs Weren’t Heaven Sent’ took a very
different direction – heaven sent by orchestrator Bjørn Morten Christophersen and
the amazing quartet from the BIT20 Ensemble,” says Saroea to BlackBook. “Now the
song is so much more than an excuse, and you can almost hear that I don’t mean it
anymore when I sing that last sentence ‘heaven knows those songs weren’t heaven 
sent’, so I guess the ‘cathartic masochism’ wasn’t such a terrible idea after all.”

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. 

_**Rona Diaries: The Chamber Versions Live At The Grieg 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**_.

![](https://i0.wp.com/mcusercontent.com/f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984/images/04334d41-
5339-0daa-a1c6-fe7d8b5d2e94.jpg?resize=273%2C273&ssl=1)

1. I’m a Rock
2. Battered & Bruised3. [Bulletproof Vest](https://reybee.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984&id=87f19fd3ec&e=615f2b8493)
4. The End5. [A Matter of Dying](https://reybee.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984&id=a9f0e7d35d&e=615f2b8493)
6. [Bergheim](https://reybee.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984&id=2b9418c3c8&e=615f2b8493)
7. [Understatement Love Song](https://reybee.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984&id=e685b250a4&e=615f2b8493)
8. Stray Cats9. Dragging You Down10. The Family You Got to Choose11. Feather in 
the Cap12 [Heaven Knows Those Songs Weren’t Heaven Sent](https://reybee.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984&id=ef311ea2f1&e=615f2b8493)
13. Catcher in the Rye (Bonus)14. Laugh in the Face of Darkness (Bonus)

**[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/fredriksaroea/?hl=en) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/artist/2hOtCBWHEsB52vdadEzvAX?si=4FMXHXtDS2y4vCXSsWlrtw&nd=1)
| [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/DatarockOfficial)**

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