Tag: Ghost Funk Orchestra A Song For Paul

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Ghost Funk Orchestra Shares Spectral “Why”

Founded and led by multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and producer Seth Applebuam, rising New York-based psych rock/psych soul outfit Ghost Funk Orchestra initially began as a lo-fi, solo recording project back in 2014 with a unique sound featuring tape-saturated drums, spring reverb, surf rock guitar, Latin-styled percussion, odd time signatures and Spanish language female vocals. Since then, the project has become a full-fledged band with as many as 10 members — while crafting a unique sound that draws from even more eclectic and diverse sources, including salsa, Afrobeat, classic soul, film soundtracks and more. 

Ghost Funk Orchestra’s full-length debut, 2019’s A Song for Paul was conceived as a tribute to Applebaum’s late grandfather Paul Anish, who played an immense role in his life. Although the album’s songs don’t address Paul Anish directly, the album’s creative direction specifically conveys what Anish’s presence felt like — and was — for Seth, a tough but kind, music obsessed, native New Yorker. For Applebaum, accurately capturing what his grandfather’s essence meant to him forced him to expand the band’s arrangements and sound further than anything he had done to that point, including writing much more comprehensive horn lines and working with a string section. 

Their sophomore album, 2020’s An Ode to Escapism saw the band further expanding upon the sound developed on A Song for Paul with the album’s material featuring much more intricate arrangements, unusual time signatures, rapid tempo and time signature changes within songs, heavier drums and vocal harmonies that soar over the entire affair. Specifically written as an invitation to the listener to close their eyes while listening and delve deep into their own subconscious, if they weren’t too afraid to do so, the album thematically touched upon isolation, fear of the unknown and the fabrication of the self-image. 

Written during pandemic-related lockdowns, Ghost Funk Orchestra’s third album  A New Kind of Love reportedly feels like the soundtrack from an imaginary movie — with the album’s songs easily being part of the score of a romantic drama, an action thriller or a modern twist on film noir: Spare, cascading vocals accentuate the lush instrumental arrangements composed, arranged, performed and produced by Applebaum. Sonically, the album’s material draws from mid-20th Century exotica, 60s and 70s orchestral pop, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings and Antibalas among others, as well as his experiences as a young filmmaker. Sonically speaking, the end result is an album that encompasses a loving reverence for the past without attempting to recreate it. 

The 12 song album sees Applebaum exploring the complicated, confusing and conflicting realm of love, with the album’s songs capturing the emotional notes of love going well and love gone sour, as though manifesting love songs based in ghostly affairs. 

Earlier this month, I wrote about A New Kind of Love‘s first single “Scatter,” a cinematic affair that pairs Romi Hanoch’s sultry and ethereal delivery with an expansive, lush and downright trippy arrangement that’s one-part film-noir-like spy movie, one-part classic rom-com, one-part Blaxploitation — with a wild late-period John Coltrane-like saxophone freak out of a solo. But if you pay close attention, the song captures a narrator reeling from a love gone disastrous wrong but with the knowing self-assuredness and confidence that she deserves — and will get much better soon enough.

A New Kind of Love‘s second and latest single “Why” is a spectral and slow-burning bit of psych soul with Latin-influenced percussion paired with powerhouse vocals. The song manages to capture curiosity, obsession and desire with an uncanny psychological realism.

The accompanying video for “Why” was shot on Kodak film –and manages to seem inspired by nouveau vague yet surrealistic.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Ghost Funk Orchestra Share Trippy and Cinematic “Scatter”

Founded and led by multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and producer Seth Applebuam, rising New York-based psych rock/psych soul outfit Ghost Funk Orchestra initially began as a lo-fi, solo recording project back in 2014 with a unique sound featuring tape-saturated drums, spring reverb, surf rock guitar, Latin-styled percussion, odd time signatures and Spanish language female vocals. Since then, the project has become a full-fledged band featuring as many as 10 members — while still featuring a unique sound that draws from even more diverse sources including salsa, Afrobeat, classic soul, film soundtracks and more.

Ghost Funk Orchestra’s full-length debut, 2019’s A Song for Paul was conceived as a tribute to Applebaum’s late grandfather Paul Anish, who played an immense role in his life. Although the album’s songs don’t address Paul Anish directly, the album’s creative direction specifically conveys what Anish’s presence felt like — and was — for Seth, a tough but kind, music obsessed, native New Yorker. For Applebaum, accurately capturing what his grandfather’s essence meant to him forced him to expand the band’s arrangements and sound further than anything he had done to that point, including writing much more comprehensive horn lines and working with a string section.

Their sophomore album, 2020’s An Ode to Escapism saw the band further expanding upon the sound developed on A Song for Paul: The album’s material featured much more intricate arrangements, unusual time signatures, rapid tempo and time signature changes within songs, heavier drums and vocal harmonies that soar over the entire affair. Specifically written as an invitation to the listener to close their eyes and delve deep into their own subconscious while playing the album, if they weren’t too afraid to do so, the album thematically touched upon isolation, fear of the unknown and the fabrication of the self-image.

Written during pandemic-related lockdowns, Ghost Funk Orchestra’s third album A New Kind of Love reportedly feels like the soundtrack from an imaginary movie — with the album’s songs easily being part of the score of a romantic drama, an action thriller or a modern twist on film noir: Spare, cascading vocals accentuate the lush instrumental arrangements composed, arranged, performed and produced by Applebaum. Sonically, the album’s material draws from mid-20th Century exotica, 60s and 70s orchestral pop, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings and Antibalas among others, as well as his experiences as a young filmmaker. Sonically speaking, the end result is an album that encompasses a loving reverence for the past without attempting to recreate it.

The 12 song album sees Applebaum exploring a complicated, confusing and conflicting realm of love, with the album’s songs capturing the emotional notes of love going well and love gone sour, as though manifesting love songs based in ghostly affairs.

A New Kind of Love‘s first single “Scatter” is a cinematic affair that pairs Romi Hanoch’s sultry and ethereal delivery with an expansive, lush and downright trippy arrangement that’s one-part film-noir-like spy movie, one-part classic rom-com, one-part Blaxploitation — with a wild late-period John Coltrane-like saxophone freak out of a solo. But pay close attention, y’all. The song captures a narrator reeling from a love gone disastrously wrong but with the knowing self-assuredness that she deserves — and will get better.

Directed by Greg Hanson and shot on Kodak film, the accompanying video for “Scatter” stars singer/songwriter and musician Romi Hanoch in a gloriously cinematic fever dream that includes a debonair, fish man boyfriend, an underwater party, doppelgängers, and a saxophone playing creature that nods at nouveau vague and others.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Brooklyn’s Ghost Funk Orchestra Releases a Trippy Visual for “Queen Bee”

Founded and led by composer, arranger and producer Seth Applebaum, the New York-based psych rock/psych soul act Ghost Funk Orchestra initially began as a lo-fi recording project in 2014. And since their formation, the project has grown into an 10 member unit that has become a forceful and up-and-coming presence in the city’s psych rock and soul scenes as a result of unique sound that draws from salsa, surf rock, Afrobeat and several others.

Last year, the act released their full-length debut A Song for Paul last year. Conceived as a tribute for Seth Applebaum’s late grandfather Paul Anish, a figure, who who played an immense role in the Ghost Funk Orchestra’s founder and bandleader’s life. And although the song don’t address Paul Anish directly, the album’s creative direction were meant to convey what Anish’s presence felt like for Seth — a tough but kind, old-school, native New Yorker. For Applebaum, accurately capturing what his grandfather’s essence meant to him, forced him to expand the band’s arrangements and overall sound much further than anything he had done up to that point, including writing more comprehensive horn lines and working with a string section.

The New York-based psych soul act’s sophomore album An Ode to Escapism is slated for a Friday release through Karma Chief Records, an imprint of Colemine Records. Sonically, An Ode to Escapism continues and further expands upon the sound they’ve developed on their full-length debut: the arrangements are more intricate and centered around odd time signatures, the drums are heavier and vocal harmonies soar over it all. Thematically, the album touches upon isolation, fear of the unknown and the fabrication of the self-image — and is specifically meant to invite to listener to close their eyes, while listening and delve into their subconscious, if they’re not too afraid to do so.

An Ode to Escapism‘s first single is the cinematic and expansive “Queen Bee.” Featuring a looping, bluesy guitar line, a soaring string arrangement, the song is centered around an unusual song structure that finds the band defy maneuvering three wildly different time signatures to convey someone digging themselves out of a self-flagellating pit and finding their swagger.

“‘Queen Bee’ is a song about finding strength in not caring what people think of you,” the band’s Seth Applebaum explains. “It’s about digging yourself out of a pit of self-consciousness and strutting your stuff however it may come across. Led by Megan Mancini, this tune has been a staple in the live repertoire for a while, but it was also one of the most difficult songs to conquer in the studio. As the first song that was written and recorded for An Ode To Escapism, ‘Queen Bee’ set a high bar for difficulty as its challenge was to find a way to move seamlessly between three very different feeling time signatures (3/4, 10/8, and 4/4). On the surface it feels like a pop song, but in true GFO fashion, there’s a lot to be discovered beneath the surface.”

Directed by the band’s Seth Applebaum, the recently released video for “Queen Bee” was shot on 16mm film and follows the various folks, who worked on Ghost Funk Orchestra’s An Ode to Escape into their homes,. where they’ve been riding out the pandemic, like most of us. There’s also some more over-the-top sequences that features the album’s three vocalists performing on an old-fashion stage, complete with a choreographed movements and handclaps. It’s playfully old-fashioned and a bit of a reminder of the things I miss so much — and hope that we can get back soon.

“The concept for this video was simple: run around with a 16mm camera and visit the folks who worked on the record at their homes where they’ve been riding out the pandemic,” Ghost Funk Orchestra’s Seth Applebaum explains in press notes. “For the more specialized shots we had the pleasure of taking over the back room at The Footlight, a Ridgewood venue that GFO spent a lot of time playing early on. We sought to juxtapose the dryness of everyone’s current living situations with the over-the-top production value of the live music experience we’re all missing so dearly right now.“

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Founded and led by composer, arranger and producer Seth Applebaum, the New York-based psych rock/psych soul act Ghost Funk Orchestra initially began as a lo-fi recording project in 2014. And since their formation, the project has grown into an 10 member unit that has become a forceful and up-and-coming presence in the city’s psych rock and soul scenes as a result of unique sound that draws from salsa, surf rock, Afrobeat and several others.

Last year, the act released their full-length debut A Song for Paul last year. Conceived as a tribute for Seth Applebaum’s late grandfather Paul Anish, a figure, who who played an immense role in the Ghost Funk Orchestra’s founder and bandleader’s life. And although the song don’t address Paul Anish directly, the album’s creative direction were meant to convey what Anish’s presence felt like for Seth — a tough but kind, old-school, native New Yorker. For Applebaum, accurately capturing what his grandfather’s essence meant to him, forced him to expand the band’s arrangements and overall sound much further than anything he had done up to that point, including writing more comprehensive horn lines and working with a string section.

The New York-based psych soul act’s sophomore album An Ode to Escapism is slated for a November 13, 2020 release through Karma Chief Records, an imprint of Colemine Records. Sonically, An Ode to Escapism continues and further expands upon the sound they’ve developed on their full-length debut: the arrangements are more intricate and centered around odd time signatures, the drums are heavier and vocal harmonies soar over it all. Thematically, the album touches upon isolation, fear of the unknown and the fabrication of the self-image — and is specifically meant to invite to listener to close their eyes, while listening and delve into their subconscious, if they’re not too afraid to do so.

An Ode to Escape‘s first single is the cinematic and expansive “Queen Bee.” Featuring a looping, bluesy guitar line, a soaring string arrangement, the song is centered around an unusual song structure that finds the band defy maneuvering three wildly different time signatures to convey someone digging themselves out of a self-flagellating pit and finding their swagger.

“‘Queen Bee’ is a song about finding strength in not caring what people think of you,” the band’s Seth Applebaum explains. “It’s about digging yourself out of a pit of self-consciousness and strutting your stuff however it may come across. Led by Megan Mancini, this tune has been a staple in the live repertoire for a while, but it was also one of the most difficult songs to conquer in the studio. As the first song that was written and recorded for An Ode To Escapism, ‘Queen Bee’ set a high bar for difficulty as its challenge was to find a way to move seamlessly between three very different feeling time signatures (3/4, 10/8, and 4/4). On the surface it feels like a pop song, but in true GFO fashion, there’s a lot to be discovered beneath the surface.”


Video by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Ghost Funk Orchestra Latest Single and Video Evokes the Awkwardness of Having a Crush

Founded and led by composer, arranger and producer Seth Applebaum, the New York-based psych rock act Ghost Funk Orchestra initially began as a lo-fi recording project in 2014. Since their formation, the project has grown into full-fledged, 11 member unit that has become an up-and-coming prescience in the city’s psych rock and soul scenes — and that shouldn’t be surprising, as their sound draws from an eclectic array of sources including salsa, surf rock, Afobeat, stoner rock and others. 

Slated for an August 23, 2019 release through Colemine Records, the up-and-coming soul acts forthcoming full-length debut, A Song For Paul was conceived as a tribute to Applebaum’s late grandfather Paul Anish, a figure, who played an immense role in the Ghost Funk Orchestra founder and bandleader’s life. While the songs reportedly don’t address Paul Anish directly, the creative process for the album and the decisions made during it were meant to convey what Anish’s presence felt like for Seth — a stern yet loving, native New Yorker. For Applebaum, accurately capturing his grandfather’s essence meant expanding the arrangements much further than what he has done in the past, including crafting more comprehensive horn arrangements, as well as working with a string section for the first time in his career. 

A Song For Paul’s latest single “Seven Eight” is an angular and awkwardly lurching song that’s centered around an unusual time signature (7/8 time), a looping Tropicalia-like guitar line, ethereal vocals, an explosive and expressive horn arrangement, which gives the song a quirky yet cinematic air. And while bearing an uncanny resemblance to Radiohead’s “15 Step” and to Gorillaz “5/4,” the song evokes the drunken swoon of having a crush. As the band’s Seth Applebaum explains “Seven Eight is a song about having a crush. When writing the song, we chose an awkward time signature because having a crush will make anyone feel a little awkward.” 

Starring Romi Hanoch, the recently released video for “Seven Eight” relies heavily on found footage from old medical films, liquid light projections from Drippy Eye Projections thrown into a visual that has a decidedly film noir-ish feel. “The music video relies heavily on found footage, specifically pulled from old medical films that depict the beauty and chaos of the human body and its internal functions,” Seth Applebaum explains. “In addition, we were fortunate enough to have our friends at Drippy Eye Projections provide us with some incredible liquid light visuals to further the narrative of chemistry.”