Roos Rebergen & SunSunSun Orchestra 05-12-24

do 5 dec '24

The orchestra's works invariably move between classical and experimental. So, in advance it was an interesting collaboration. ★★★★ Written in Music

Poetic songs by Roosbeef with strings

You know Roos Rebergen from her band Roosbeef, which has now released five studio albums full of quirky Dutch-language songs. In 2023, they were struck by fate. Friend and band member Tom Pintens lost his battle with illness. A period of getting lost and searching for a new balance. In the meantime, Roos rediscovered a number of songs, rewritten in other arrangements - for strings.

During this exclusive tour you will hear poetic Roosbeef classics in chamber music format, expertly supported by the SunSunSun Orchestra. A beautiful mix of fragile and brutal. The first single "How to Live" will be released on April 25, 2024.

Roos Rebergen & SunSunSun Orchestra
Roos Rebergen (vocals), Jeroen Baert & Yumika Lecluyze (violin), Karel Coninx (viola), Seraphine Stragier (cello), Tim Vandenbergh (double bass), Antoon Offeciers (piano)

How it went

Winter 2023. Roos Rebergen has just given birth to her second child when she and her band Roosbeef go on tour in support of their fifth album, Summer in the Netherlands.

Shortly before the tour, however, it becomes clear that Tom Pintens, one of the core members, is too ill to go. Roos doesn't want to replace him, so they decide to rethink all the arrangements for a smaller line-up. For when he gets better. Then he can join them again.

During the tour, Roos realizes how much she loves playing, how music is an escape from reality for her. How - when she plays - she forgets everything she would rather not know.

For Roos, this winter is a split between intensely happy moments and the reality that comes closer and closer. Tom is getting worse, and Roos, whose life has always been connected to her band Roosbeef, has no idea how she will soon have to deal with a life without Tom. Who is she? Who is Roosbeef?

On a beautiful spring day, she takes Tom out for a walk. He is radiant that day in his wheelchair, and Roos is embarrassed by the questions she struggles with. She is ashamed that she has been thinking not only about him, but also about herself, and what would she do without him?

After they arrive at a café, she decides to take her shame for granted and they begin to talk about life and what it should be like. "Why are you so set in your ways, anyway?" asks Tom. "Things don't have to be mutually exclusive. They can coexist. Start looking for how you feel right now, in this moment."

Not much later, Roos calls Tim Vandenbergh, the inspiration behind SunSunSun Orchestra. Maybe they should make a record together. Just because Roos feels like it. And so it happened. Together, Roos and Tim went through Roosbeef's oeuvre and selected songs that lent themselves well to strings and voice. Songs that Tim could indulge in. The result? All unique, new arrangements.