“Do you remember // how you used to sing like a child?” These are the opening sentiments from the latest offering from Po’ Girl, a bluegrass-country-jazz-folk quartet that have long been a comfortable staple in the world of roots music. Follow Your Bliss awakens and nourishes the inner soul with its accessible blend of folk highlighting the band’s ability to combine meaningful yet modest song lyrics with elegant vocals and rich instrumentation.

Allison Russell, Awna Teixeira, Benny Sidelinger, and Mikey August comprise the four piece and their combined musicianship provide the listener with an immediate state of comfortableness. It is not the kind of music one uses for mere background pleasure. Rather, this is a listening experience guided by a multitude of masterfully executed instruments which sound simple in their design but intricate in their delivery. Follow your Bliss combines accordions, banjos, electric guitars, dobros, organs, and glockenspiels (to name a few) and offers many different ranges from a gradual country slide guitar to a polka-esque accordion sounding like something from a travelling caravan.

‘Kathy’ opens the record with a reminiscent story about Alison’s mother who seems to have surrendered her inspirational touch. It is an intimate song leaving the listener feeling like they are part of the Po’ Girl family while simultaneously achieving a sense of calmness and reflection. The organic nature of the themes continue with ‘Go Easy’, one of the soft hidden gems on the album. “Don’t be reluctant to stop and admire / stop and admire love fill up inspire love / this is the moment you have arrived / honey go easy when it gets hard.” This is such a graceful song about appreciating the small and simple things in life; an ideal that typifies the feel of this record. There are so many great moments but perhaps, none better than than the title track which features a very catchy chorus and horn section that glues all of the pieces together including an interlude destined to become an outdoor festival sing along point. More than that, the song (and title of the album) is a reference to Joseph Campbell, an American philosopher whose works focus on connecting systems of faith into a singular understanding and are often summed up with the phrase “Follow Your Bliss”. My only regret is that the song ends just shy of the the 3 ½ minute mark when it could have lasted twice that long.

There is an undeniable spirit in the way Po’ Girl delivers it’s brand of conglomerate folk. Organic, wholesome and nourishing are the paradigms brought forth in the latest effort from this Canadian four piece. This is simple, beautiful, stripped down music.