Sholi – All That We Can See from Zeek Earl on Vimeo.

Sholi remains one of 2009’s best albums, even if Sholi has been quiet for some time. The band just sent over a video for “All That We Can See,” a song that remains as potent as when I first heard it several years ago. It feels a little cyclical to once again discover the song in a new form, and there’s something in the mix of new and familiar that makes me optimistic about the band’s next chapter.

Director Zeek Earl is also an aquarium videographer, who approached the band with the idea of using urchins as a theme. Says the director:

To pay my way through college, I got a job teaching classes about echinoderms (starfish, sea urchins, etc..) to visiting school groups at the Seattle Aquarium. The creatures constantly fascinated me both biologically and visually. Somewhere between plant and animal, they changed the way I think about what it is to be a living thing. Before leaving, I shot a bunch of random footage of these creatures which I been staring at and explaining for several years. I sent some of the clips over to Payam of Sholi and he enthusiastically agreed to a full music video. The link between the creatures and the song (“All That We Can See”) was intuitive. Starting with a few shots of the urchins floating over the rocks I let the music direct the “plot,” never knowing what would happen thirty seconds later.