Rock band Eels released a music video for their titular track “Earth to Dora,” released on the album Earth to Dora in October 2020. The music video, produced through PRETTYBIRD UK and directed by Isabel Garrett, features stop-motion puppets and paintings.

In the video, Mark (assumed to be the band’s frontman and lead singer, Mark Everett) writes a letter to a woman named Dora. He attempts to coax her to Earth, singing, “Dear Dora/I need a muse, you’re my muse.” The video ends with Dora coming to Earth, and joining hands with Mark.

The stop-motion puppets and swirling acrylic paintings create a playful and wistful music video that could pass for a children’s picture book. The tone of the video matches the song. “One of the most compelling features of the album is the relaxed, tranquil feeling it invites the listener to embrace. From start to finish, the listener is met with shakers and smooth, soft vocals set to a tight baseline and crisp guitar riffs. No one element is truly dominant, everything swirls together harmoniously like a coffee stirred with creamer,” writes mxdwn album reviewer Phoebe Smith. To read the full album review, click here. 

In November of 2020, Eels released a music video featuring actor Jon Hamm for their song “Are We Alright Again.” “Are We Alright Again,” was also a song on the album Earth to Dora. 

“I wrote that in the early lockdown days, when it first got bad… And I was just like, ‘I really need some hope.’ And I was kind of hoping that by the time it came out, maybe things would be a lot better, so maybe it would become this anthem that we could all celebrate, like, ‘Yeah! Now things are better out there!’” Everett said in an interview with Paste magazine. 

Eels was formed in 1991 by Mark Oliver Everett, better known by his stage name “E.” For much of the band’s early work, E performed as a solo artist but eventually invited other collaborators in 1996 for the album Beautiful Freak. 

Earth to Dora is the band’s 12th studio album. Included in the Eels lineup on Earth to Dora is E, The Chet (Jeff Lyster) on guitar, Koool G Murder (Kelly Logsdon) on bass guitar, Knuckles (Derek Brown) on drums, P-Boo (Mike Sawitzke) on guitar. 

Some earlier Eels work has included The Deconstruction (2018), The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett (2014), and Wonderful, Glorious (2013).