Curious and consuming, this new treatment of folk veteran Kele Fleming’s ‘Vanishing of Bees’ is terrific. Busting and brooding, Lost Signal and Kele Fleming are both seeking to spread awareness about those precious insects and their threatened existence through experimental and thought-provoking electronica.
Canadian folk singer and songwriter Kele Fleming is teaming up with EDM talent Matt Couchman, also known as Lost Signal, on World Bees Day to bring us the playfully ominous remix of ‘Vanishing of Bees’. A song that benefits from Fleming’s artful and rich lyricism, this remix is treated to incorporate Couchman’s distinct flair, marked by a steady, looming beat, and fuzzy electronic landscape.
The piece was written to raise awareness of the important role bees play in conserving the ecosystem, and in turn, the drastic imbalance that would occur if the threat to their numbers persists. But while Fleming’s original was an artful piece of anthemic art folk that utilizes her vocal quirkiness and adds it to an airy, expansive soundscape, it is Lost Cause’s approach that drives home the danger that faces the environment if the bees actually vanish. While Fleming’s original is hopeful but reprimanding, Couchman’s treatment is dark and threatening, exposing a whole new dimension to Fleming’s effort while creating a piece of electronica that easily stands on its two legs.
Lost Cause’s remix of ‘Vanishing of Bees’ is experimental and dense, but at the same time wholly consuming, immersive, and just impeccably well put together.