Over the past several years, Maris O’Tierney established herself as an engaging, evocative songwriter and musician as one half of Maeve & Quinn, the duo she formed with her twin sister, Bryce. The pair released exquisite records such as the EPs Something Overheard, Something Overhead (2018) and Star-Crossed (2021), as well as 2023’s full-length release, Another Door, drawing inspiration from multiple points of origin: where they grew up (Alaska), the country of their heritage (Ireland), and their current hometown (Chicago). While Maris has stepped out with her first solo album under the moniker Park Hills Circle, she still retains the sensibilities of that duo, along with additional sonic layers that give this debut a warm uniqueness.
All of a Sudden, recorded at Chicago’s Bim Bom Studios and co-produced by engineer Michael MacDonald, features songs, vocals, guitar, and occasional piano by O’Tierney, and is aided by a stellar group of collaborators, including Aaron Otheim on keyboards, Dustin Laurenzi on saxophone, Quin Kirchner on percussion, and Matt Ulery on bass. The instrumentation is cool and mesmerizing without ever intruding on O’Tierney’s sharp songwriting. The debut single, “Spring Is Here”, beautifully heralds the beginning of the season. “As an Alaskan living in Chicago,” she explained in a recent interview, “walking along Lake Michigan brings me home to nature.” Against her acoustic fingerpicking, she sings: “Now spring is here / You left before the birds were returning / But I’m still yearning.”
While there are some obvious stylistic nods to predecessors—one can hear Kate Bush or Tori Amos in the music’s ethereal presentation—O’Tierney remains a steadfast individual, as the magnetic harmonies of “…Softly Calling Your Name” are entwined with the song’s pop sensibilities, the stuttering beat of the driving, determined “Company We Keep” gives the song a unique edge alongside the confident swagger of the acoustic guitar strumming. The rustic folk aesthetic of “Playing with Fire” strips everything down to the bare necessities as O’Tierney draws inspiration from her childhood years spent in her ancestral home country of Ireland.
O’Tierney seems comfortable plugging her songs into a variety of styles without ever seeming like she’s stretching herself too thin. For all the deep dives into Irish folk and the nods to rural Americana, she can still pull off rich swaths of sophisti-pop, as on the opening track, “Clearing”, as subtle synthesizers and Laurenzi’s saxophone buttress O’Tierney’s dreamy harmonies. Likewise, synths make up a huge part of the DNA in “Unspoke”, giving the song an airy otherworldliness.
All of a Sudden closes with the rich warmth of the title track, another song inspired by the natural beauty of Alaska that O’Tierney somehow found in her adopted hometown of Chicago, as she accepts where she is and what brought her there. “On my own / I know I’m home again,” she sings in the song’s wistful coda. It’s a turbulent, often crazy world, but under the Park Hills Circle name, Maris O’Tierney is a warm, engaging respite from the world’s harsh realities.