‘Still this disappearing act is failing gloriously’ the chorus in the title track on this album says, and it looks like 2026 is another year that singer-songwriter Ad Vanderveen does not manage to disappear.
His new record is as much about perseverance as it is about retreat and stepping back to reflect.
It’s a snapshot of a phase when the arc of a life’s work comes down to earth on the other end of hopes and dreams and the dots are connected, the pictures filled in.
It’s about acceptance and gratitude for dreams come true that you didn’t even see coming.
And it’s about focusing inward, having less and less to prove to the outside world, yet still having a drive to try and share the relevance of an inner world.
Contradictions and paradoxes like these weave like a thread through the album.
Musically the ten tracks on Disappearing Act are based on acoustic guitar and vocal, accompanied by violin, pedal steel, electric guitar, piano, mandola, dobro, bass, drums/percussion, and harmony vocals. There’s also a reunion with one of Ad’s first bands ‘The Cotton Brothers’ and all of it is captured in a natural and organic production.
The same hand-made and real-time M.O. that Vanderveen has employed in all of his work – and which also yielded the classic and timeless music that influenced him over the years – has shaped these unconditional in the moment performances, putting the songs and lyrics center stage in a no-nonsense delivery.
Ad Vanderveen is considered to be one of the most prolific artists in his genre although for him that has never been a goal – on the contrary. “I can’t help it, it just seems to happen” the singer songwriter says of getting the songs for his 2026 release. “Even when I don’t write, it just shows up during recording, as happened with 2 improvisational pieces in these sessions. It’s not with a mindset to make a record, I just follow creativity and inspiration and want to stretch that as long as I can because that’s the part I enjoy most. When the muse calls I have to obey and then my working motto is ‘no hurry at all, but no reason to stall’
If that leads to another year, another record with an unplanned regularity that might make people take it for granted, that’s ok. I do this for myself primarily, with no expectations but some hopes of reaching a like-minded audience and a group of dedicated followers.”
Disappearing Act will be released in spring 2026, stay tuned for details.
Tracklist:
1 Spots Of Time
2 Mystery Mountain
3 Disappearing Act
4 Particle And Wave (Goodness In The World)
5 Soliloquy
6 Will And Testament
7 Hunger
8 Holding On To You
9 Fun Funerals And Sad Saturday Nights
10 If Words Were Notes
(All songs by Ad Vanderveen, except 5 by John Gorka)
Produced by Daniel Shergold.
Additional mixing by Huib Elenbaas.
With:
Ad Vanderveen: vocal, guitars, harmonica, mandola
Kersten de Ligny: harmony vocal, percussion
Moniek De Leeuw: violin
Jan Erik Hoeve: pedal steel
Rene Kaay: piano, accordeon, organ
Dan Shergold: bass
Michael Kay: drums, percussion
The Cotton Brothers: Huib Elenbaas: vocal, guitar / Theo Houtkoop: guitar, vocal / Peter Paul IJkelenstam: drums, percussion / Jan Erik Hoeve: pedal steel, vocal




You must be logged in to post a comment.