Curls of wood and sawdust swirl above a New Jersey cornfield like a cloud of crazed locusts beneath frenzied beats. As the camera pans down and the sounds of Delicate Steve's lush, stringy instrumental fill the sunny day, a chainsaw sculptor hard at work comes to the forefront.
The video for "Butterfly" depicts a dozen or so performers jovially - and independently - showcasing various acts, including ventriloquism, bubble-blowing and multi-hula-hooping.
We asked frontman Steve Marion about his song's accompanying visuals:
Though living in northern New Jersey, where I'm from, can seem from the outside to be plain and boring, behind the banal surface lies a circus of tumult and activity. I guess perhaps the same amount of oddness that one might find upon a closer look in any hometown. Or so I've been lead to believe.
Director Sophie Peer shared her thoughts, too:
The video for "Butterfly" is a performance, happening in real time, of people doing what they love. Acrobats, dancers, a juggler, hula-hooper, belly dancer, balloonist, magician, ventriloquist and of course, a chainsaw artist, all come together to celebrate Steve's song. As a director and an artist who works with performance, this was a really fun challenge.
"Butterfly" appears on Wondervisions, out Feb. 1 on David Byrne's label Luaka Bop.
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