The Valentine’s Day video Gomez Addams sent to Morticia – that’s “The Blood In Your Veins” by 77 Apes. It’s a sultry, minimalist jam that veers into horror-movie musical tropes, with the creepiest visuals you’re likely to find outside a morgue. The juxtaposition raises subtext questions – is this a fun, retro romp for horror fans or an implied critique of some romantic metaphors?

The embed for the video is way down at the end so you can decide if you’re up for organs (the lung kind, not the pipe kind) that pulsate in time to the music. You may recognize the footage source, “Experiments in the Revival of Organisms,” a 1940 Soviet propaganda film with a lurid reputation. The horrifying parts of “Experiments” aren’t included here – I wouldn’t have known it even went there if I hadn’t looked it up – so as handled, it feels more like a reference to classic horror movies. (I like how it’s done, but I’m sufficiently lost to decency to be all “look how that pulsing organ reinforces the eerie beat!”)

While I like the “Valentine’s Day for Halloween People” interpretation, the video does give food for thought. Being the “blood in your veins” sounds intimate at first encounter, but in a world of literal hearts, it gets messier. Is it a revivifying discovery that helps the beloved prosper? Or is this song about bringing a relationship back from the dead, when it might better be left dead? The way the beat feels off-kilter on the verse exudes menace, setting a mood that’s downright stalkerish. Then that same beat cleverly winds into the energy of the chorus… and it’s not any less unsettling.

“TheBlood in Your Veins” is the second single from 77 Apes’ sophomore album, The End of Love, which is promised to play up the creepy and emotionally tangled elements.