[Cover image featuees GFO’s Seth Applebaum, photo credit to Seth Applebaum]

Ghost Funk Orchestra (GFO) has announced their fifth full-length album, Yours in The Ranks of Death, arriving via Karma Chief Records. The album finds composer/mastermind Seth Applebaum “paring down the sounds and conceptual underpinnings.”

The result is that Ghost Funk Orchestra continues to be “groovy modern psychedelic soul jazz boogaloo”.

Applebaum says:

I wanted to focus more on the rhythm section…like getting the grooves to feel and letting them just exist for a while, rather than trying to bounce around.

The lyrics of Yours in The Ranks of Death are some of the most “confessional tones” yet from GFO.

From the vocalists to the horns, Applebaum made sure this album was cast with some of his touring musicians in mind.

He says:

Both of their voices [Camellia Hartman and Zivic] are incredible…when I was casting these songs, I wanted to make sure that these singers who have been performing with us live on a pretty regular basis feel like they have some kind of ownership in the project. Similarly with the horns, it’s like I put together a section of all the horn players that have been regular parts of the live band as of late. It’s like this is my world; I invite a few people in at a time…so that they feel a little bit less like just hired guns for the live show.

GFO’s will release a new single, “A Hell Below”, which is “a song about uncertainty; an ode to daydreaming about what might be missing in your life”, on November 5th, 2026. On the new track, Megan Mancini delivers the lead vocals. The arrangement is sparse, focusing on the drums and vocals and leaving lots of room to breathe and reflect.