New album out May 13.

Fredrik Saroea with BIT20 Ensemble - Rona Diaries: The 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. 

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.

09 Dragging You Down (Chamber Version)

DATAROCK///™ YAP Records