On their forthcoming 'Snow Globe,' due out next month on Mute, synth-pop legends Erasure create their own sort of Christmas album, one focused on the holiday's "mysterious side," according to singer Andy Bell. In keeping with that spirit, Bell and partner Vince Clark have released a dark and cryptic new video for the single 'Gaudete,' and while it features stop-motion animation, neither Santa nor Rudolph (nor Yukon Cornelius) are anywhere in site.

Erasure created the dark visuals -- which involve a monk melting snow in order to play a church organ -- with Mark Meunier, known for his work on the films 'James and the Giant Peach and Coraline,' and Tonya Hurley, the best-selling author behind the 'ghostgirl' series.

'Snow Globe' comprises both originals and traditional Christmas offerings, and while 'Gaudete' may not immediately ring familiar to fans of such Erasure hits as 'Victim of Love' and 'Ship of Fools,' it falls into the latter category. The carol required Bell to sing in Latin, and that may have led to a Christmas miracle.

“I found my inner choirboy again,” Bell said. “I thought I’d lost him but he was there all along."

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