The Disappearing Act, the evanescent “not-actually-a-band,” the occasionally reappearing recording project, has finally phoenixed once again, for the first time since their last album, Born to Say Goodbye landed nine years ago. The forthcoming An Illusion, the project’s third offering, is cause for celebration on several levels, not the least of which is that the long-established Disappearing duo of Dallas’s Salim Nourallah and El Paso’s Bob Blumenfeld is now augmented by another legendary Dallasite musician, multi-instrumentalist John Dufilho, he of so many musical incarnations that the mind reels: Deathray Davies, Clifffs, I Love Math, John Buffalo, Motorcade, the currently slumbering The Apples in Stereo, and more—that’s just the short list. The Disappearing Act’s An Illusion (due out September 27th via Happiness (A Record Label)) is a 12-song testament to the unique creative partnership of Blumenfeld, Nourallah and Dufilho, a jigsaw puzzling of songwriting and production that somehow gestalts into a sum greater than its parts. Like magic.
Although the intertwining musical lives of Nourallah and Blumenfeld date all the way back to elementary school in El Paso, “new kid” John Dufilho has a considerable history with the two as well. He and Nourallah shared stages with their respective bands in the 90s when Dufilho was still based in San Antonio, but they cemented their friendship and working relationship after John moved to Dallas a few years later. “John and I have a long history of playing on each other’s records,” Nourallah says. “I produced Deathray Davies and I Love Math, and then he’s been the longest-standing member of my solo band, playing drums for many years. Now we work out of my studio together—he’s been doing most of the engineering at Pleasantry Lane for the past four years…”
Do too many cooks spoil the broth? Do too many egos and personalities working on a project dilute and confuse its cohesion, its direction? With The Disappearing Act, nothing could be further from the truth. An Illusion is a celebration of creativity, collaboration, and a three-ring brain trust of mutual admiration and respect. The Disappearing Act strikes again—now hold your breath…
Today Glide is excited to premiere the video for the standout track “Santorini,” a dreamy and breezy work of indie folk that brings to mind artists like Jeff Tweedy with thoughtfully vivid lyrics. The band seems to revel in taking us to the world of the song and giving us a feeling of airy warmth. Indeed, this song captures the kind of dream pop that few bands are tackling these days. The tasteful visuals also provide a pleasant complement to the music.
Watch the video and read our conversation with the band below:
What is the story behind this song? What inspired it?
I visited the island of Santorini in Greece many years ago. It was a happy, exciting time that’s still vividly burned deep in my memory banks. The island is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to, with white stucco buildings sitting amongst cliffs that overlook a bay that used to be the center of a volcano. It’s visually spectacular.
Why is it important to you and what about the song really speaks to you?
Well, to be honest, I wasn’t really ever planning to write a song called “Santorini.” It was 100% lurking in my subconscious. The music that John and Bob came up with really spoke to me, though, from the first time I heard it. That’s ultimately what inspired the vocal melody and conjured the memories and images I incorporated into the song. It’s just such a beautifully evocative backing track. It played like a miniature movie soundtrack to me. So, to answer your question… the music still really speaks to me, as it made me think of Santorini, and my time there, for the first time in many years.
What was the writing and recording process like for this song?
The writing process for The Disappearing Act is a bit unorthodox. All of the songs initially come from the guitar noodling of Bob Blumenfeld. He works mainly in alternate tunings, most of his ideas being relatively unique. No standard G major/C major strumming here. For “Santorini,” John Dufilho took Bob’s initial guitar idea and built an instrumental track around it. That track included drums, electric guitars, bass, and some other instruments. I picked the instrumental bed as something I’d like to put a vocal melody over. The instant I heard the backing track Dufilho made, a vocal melody came to mind, as well as lyric ideas. Everything happened fairly quickly after that. It was what I like to call a “bolt of lightning” moment.
Are there any lyric lines that you really love or that really are important to you?
“This is the place I’ll always be with you” resonates the most with me, although I like the imagery in some of the lines like, “We sleep under fishing nets, deep in the red sunset. Time takes a break, the quiet volcano rests.”
What do you feel makes them resonate?
The former lines express the sentiment that even though time has moved on, and maybe you no longer even know this person you once loved and shared a life with, the good times you had together still exist somewhere within you. You’re choosing to remember them in this particular time and place when you were happiest.
If listeners can take away one thing from having heard this song, what do you hope that is?
I think simply taking away a good feeling from this song is the goal. Maybe it will trigger similar memories in them of a happy time? Maybe it will just wash over them and give a peaceful feeling? It’s just such a gentle, soothing track.
How does this song fit in among the others on the album? How is it similar or different?
“Santorini” is sonically kind of an outlier on the record – there is only one other song that’s reminiscent of it – “Weightless.” “Santorini” has got a very “sunny” vibe, while a lot of the other songs have more of a nighttime vibe. But this song being different is a reflection of what I think one of The Disappearing Act’s strengths is. There’s a lot of variety in the music, each song being like a mini-movie.
Please tell us about the video. Whose idea was the treatment and who did you work with the accomplish the finishing clip?
An Egyptian musician, Youssef Mostafa, made the video. It was solely his ideas that were incorporated into the clip.
What do you love most about the video?
I really like the simplicity and a lot of the line drawings.
What is coming up next for The Disappearing Act?
Our third full-length album, An Illusion, is coming out September 27, 2024. We’ve also started work on our next set of songs. It’s definitely an exciting and creatively fertile time for The Disappearing Act.
