Richard and Tova Tillinghast announce the release of their new album, Random Perfect Plan. It explores themes of the homestead and hearth, children and chickens, and settling in at long last to who one really is.
“This well-crafted record captures the mood of a life well-lived,” said longtime collaborator and east coast musician Jennifer Goree in a press release from the Tillinghasts.
"Tova’s classically trained cello, violin, and high harmonies supplement Richard’s guitar and evocative voice. While the album features a talented array of Pacific Northwest musicians, the songs and lyrics, written from Richard’s wry perspective, take center stage."
In the title song, Tillinghast seems to reference today’s socio-political situation: “Like mice we nibble crumbs/Shaking hands and sucking thumbs/Ship of fools out for a ride/Toxic hand to turn the tide,” and implies where one can choose to go instead, “But I left that place below/Shucked like corn my old ego/To my wife I raise my face/Settle down and take my place."
Settling in, finding one’s place, is the current that runs through this entire album, recorded by Mike Andrews at Audio Society Recording in Parkdale. Track five, the upbeat “Forever Friend,” speaks of trading in a forced societal reality and instead following one’s own unique direction: “Wake up, the world is growing outside your door/Leave your fear behind, it’s a pesticide you don’t need no more.”
Tova Tillinghast’s cello textures the entire record, and although she sings, plays violin, accordion, and even whistles, the cello is her true voice. A Tillinghast acknowledges the effort required to sustain relationships and overcome adversity together, which is at the forefront of many minds during current times, as in “The Wonder Of it All”: “We take out turns cutting doorways and building walls/Working with you through the wonder of it all,” but returns to the theme of a circular life, “The four of us like waves we rise and fall/Surfing with you through the wonder of it all.”
Various live release shows have been postponed due to COVID-19, but the album can be seen and heard at www.richardtillinghast.com.
The Tillinghast family project of “backyard music videos” lends itself to the literal imagery of the songs and can be found on YouTube on the Random Perfect Plan channel.
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