Canadian singer/songwriter Kele Fleming has re-released her single, “Vanishing of Bees” along with a new live video featuring her full band to continue the efforts of the UN World Bee Day. Additionally, 100% of digital sales of the single via Bandcamp will be donated to the David Suzuki Foundation.
With the double whammy of a worsening climate emergency damaging our planet and a worldwide pandemic ravaging our population, there’s no time like the present for this clarion call-to-action that Fleming also describes as “a beautiful lullaby for a time passing and a way of life that is threatened”.
In what the Vancouver Sun’s Stuart Derdeyn calls “a lush pop ballad boasting a soaring vocal on the chorus”, “Vanishing of Bees” powerfully juxtaposes a nostalgic, youthful worldview with the harsh reality of today’s global environmental crisis.
“In the song, I call upon the memories of my childhood self – my wonder and love for the natural world,” explains Fleming. “This is contrasted with the adult voice in the song…a voice that expresses grief for what has been lost…youth and the natural world threatened.”
A child in love with the trees
Gentle giants swaying above me
This verdant world set me free
The fourth single from the Vancouver folk-pop artist’s fourth studio album The Song I’ll Write for My Whole Life, “Vanishing of Bees” made its first public bow on UN World Bee Day in 2019 as a fundraiser for the David Suzuki Foundation’s Butterflyway Project.
“This project supports the protection and sustainment of key pollinator habitats and is very close to my heart,” explains Fleming. “The protection of bee and pollinator habitat is crucial to the sustainment of Earth’s ecosystems and our human food systems.”
The live performance video was filmed with Fleming’s band at Vancouver’s Pandora’s Box Rehearsal Studio.
“This was the first and only time I was able to play with my band since the pandemic began,” Fleming says. “Instead of a planned live concert for the album release, in Nov 2020 we gathered to record and film all songs off of the album live during a short reprieve of public health restrictions.”
Check out the official live video for “Vanishing of Bees” below, and stay up to date with Kele Fleming via her socials.
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