Winter 2023. Roos Rebergen had just had a second child when she went on tour with her band Roosbeef to launch their fifth album Zomer in Nederland.

But right before the tour it became clear that Tom Pintens – one of the core members – was too ill to go with them. Roos didn’t want to replace him, so they decided to rethink all the arrangements for a smaller ensemble. For when he would get better again. Then he could rejoin them.

During the tour, Roos realised how much that she loved playing, how music is an escape from reality for her. How – when she plays – she forgets everything that she would rather not know. 

For Roos, that winter was split between intensely happy moments and the reality that was steadily approaching. Tom worsens and Roos, whose life has always been linked to her band Roosbeef, has no idea how she will soon have to relate to a life without Tom. Who is she? Who is Roosbeef?

On a beautiful spring day, she takes Tom outside for a walk. He’s beaming that day in his wheelchair and Roos is ashamed about the questions she’s struggling with. She’s ashamed that she has not only thought about him, but also about herself and what she should then do without him?

After they arrived at a café, she decided to make peace with her shame and they started talking about life and what it should look like. “Why are you tying yourself in knots?”, asks Tom. “One thing doesn’t have to rule out another. They can coexist. Start looking for what you feel like right now, in this moment.”

Not much later, Roos calls Tim Vandenbergh, the founder of SunSunSun Orchestra. Maybe they should make a record together. Just because, because Roos feels like it. And so it goes. Together, Roos and Tim went through the Roosbeef oeuvre and selected tracks that lend themselves well to strings and vocals. Songs Tim could have a blast with.

The result? Unique new arrangements, each and every one. The first single from Roos and SunSunSun Orchestra, Hoe je leven moet, was released on 25 April 2024.