Kele Fleming redefines her sound with latest remixes

Growing up in the Comox Valley, Kele Fleming began writing music at 13—now in her 50s, Fleming says she’s creating her best work yet.

When she released her album The Song I’ll Write for My Whole Life in early 2020, she was excited to tour and promote that work. Unfortunately, the pandemic had other plans.

Like many of us, Fleming put her goals for 2020 on hold—but she used it as an opportunity to grow her network, one that has launched her into a new phase of her music career.

“I could have gotten really depressed or disappointed but I thought, you know, there’s still music and people still wanted to listen to music,” says Fleming. “It was my pandemic silver lining.”

Fleming began doing a weekly music livestream called Music Mondays, a tradition she’s kept going to this day. Through online communities and outreach, she was connecting with DJs who could remix her music.

Several producers jumped at the opportunity and suddenly, this folk rocker found herself becoming an indie darling in an entirely different genre—electronic dance music. Her songs are now streamed worldwide, reaching a whole new generation of listeners.

Her two latest releases reimagine original tracks from The Song I’ll Write for My Whole Life.

In June, she re-released her song “Vanishing of Bees” with producer Atlas To Earth as the “ Set Me Free Remix.”

“Vanishing of Bees” was written to raise awareness about climate change and the natural elements we’re likely to lose because of it. Fleming says the message is as relevant now as it was three years ago, especially as we enter another record-breaking wildfire season in Canada.

“The song became a juxtaposition of a child’s joy at discovering the natural world with an adult’s grief of losing some of the amazing things we have,” she says.

Last week she re-released the  track “The Great Acceleration” with Vancouver artist Devours putting his spin on it—watch out for the music video’s premiere on her Youtube channel in the coming weeks.

“I love Devour’s sound, he’s unique and kind of out there. He describes his sound as ‘mutant DIY homo-pop’,” Fleming laughs. “He turned the song into a real summer-dance vibe.”

Fleming has no intentions of slowing the momentum she built during the lockdown, and she plans to continue experimenting with her sound.

You can catch Fleming July 13 at the Oak Bay Summer Concert Series at Willows Beach. She will be performing with the evocative band R. Mason and Victoria indie-rocker Sail Cassady.