{"title":"Puma Blue","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePuma Blue is the solo project of Jacob Allen, a talented musician hailing from South East London. With his unique blend of soulful vocals and jazz-inspired melodies, Puma Blue has quickly gained recognition for his captivating sound. Drawing inspiration from artists such as Jeff Buckley and Chet Baker, he creates music that is both intimate and hauntingly beautiful. Whether performing live or recording in the studio, Puma Blue's passion for music shines through in every note.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince launching his solo career, Puma Blue has released several critically acclaimed EPs and singles, including \"Only Trying 2 Tell U\" and \"Moon Undah Water.\" His distinctive style has garnered him a dedicated fanbase around the world, with fans eagerly awaiting each new release.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith his mesmerizing voice and poetic lyrics, Puma Blue continues to push boundaries within the music industry. His evocative performances have captivated audiences at renowned venues such as The Roundhouse and Village Underground. As he continues to evolve as an artist, there is no doubt that Puma Blue will leave an indelible mark on the music scene.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"in-praise-of-shadows","title":"In Praise Of Shadows","description":"\u003cp\u003eOver the course of two EPs, two singles and a stripped-back live album, Puma Blue has established himself as one of the UK’s most vital new talents. Now comes the long awaited debut album \u003ci\u003eIn Praise of Shadows\u003c\/i\u003e via Blue Flowers. \u003ci\u003eIn Praise of Shadows\u003c\/i\u003e is a delirious dreamland of soulful vocals, D’Angelo-ish guitars and muted electronic beats. Its fourteen tracks are a contemplation on “the balance of light and dark, the painful things you have to heal from or accept, that bring you through to a better place” says the 25-year-old Puma Blue, real name Jacob Allen “It’s about finding light in darkness - and realising that it’s what got me here today.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe album astonishing in its openness, from bittersweet reflections on past relationships - “I never learnt to cherish her” Jacob laments on \u003ci\u003eCherish (furs)\u003c\/i\u003e - to pure love-laden soliloquies such as \u003ci\u003eAlready Falling\u003c\/i\u003e or \u003ci\u003eSheets\u003c\/i\u003e, one of the albums most personal moments, which borrows a sample from the score of Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and repurposes it as a lilting love-song that Allen describes as “like a really personal note that you’d leave in the house to be found when you’ve got to head out early.” Nowhere is that openness more apparent though than on lead single \u003ci\u003eVelvet Leaves\u003c\/i\u003e. Propelled by a crisp hip-hop beat and culminating in reverb-drenched wails reminiscent of one of Allen’s biggest influences, Jeff Buckley, the track explores an incident that still leaves him near panic attacks today. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blue Flowers Music","offers":[{"title":"Clear | LP","offer_id":50468789223755,"sku":"1102621","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Black LPx2","offer_id":50468789944651,"sku":"2024239","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50468789518667,"sku":"1102619","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/6fa26e91-e7af-439f-9d22-834df9ffc79b_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727351764"},{"product_id":"holy-waters","title":"Holy Waters","description":"\u003cp\u003eDeath nestles like a sweet creature at the heart of \u003ci\u003eHoly Waters\u003c\/i\u003e, the highly anticipated follow-up to 2021’s\u003ci\u003e In Praise of Shadows\u003c\/i\u003e, via Blue Flowers. It’s less a morbid study in mortality, more a chronicle of the graciousness within each repeated cycle of life, death and rebirth, arriving eventually at a gentle affirmation to himself, to the listener, at the album’s close, to keep going, “don’t let the dark take you whole”. It’s the hope-tinged bleakness that gets you. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA substantial leap in Jacob’s artistry; extraordinary multitudes of hurt and relief are journeyed in his writing, navigating the spaces between grief and elation, and the strange semblances between solitude and community. Across its eleven tracks, his voice is a gossamer fabric delighting in the brightest language as he retraces every path walked in the harshest years of his life with a startling sincerity, looking each face of grief in the bloodshot eye. For the most part, he accepts it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecorded with his live band over the course of two visits to Eastbourne’s Echo Zoo Studios, a joy permeates each sonic corner of \u003ci\u003eHoly Waters\u003c\/i\u003e, the studio techniques more analogue and experimental than his previous work, but sounding fuller, richer, killing what ego was left in Puma Blue and paying their band-centric debts proudly. Inspired still by luminaries from Jeff Buckley to Björk, more important to Holy Waters was Portishead’s inexplicable marriage of a live band and production, and the improvisational work of Can and Hendrix. This is an album that can be devoured late at night with headphones as much as it can be blasted on the open road.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile \u003ci\u003eHoly Waters\u003c\/i\u003e might be his darkest work to date – even when compared to the moreish sadness flooding his breakthrough EPs Swum Baby (2017) and Blood Loss (2018) – it seems to find Puma Blue in a better place than ever. It’s as if death being the centrifuge to the album has made the beautiful moments that remain all the more beautiful; after all the sorrow and pain has passed, Holy Waters basks in them.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blue Flowers Music","offers":[{"title":"Blue LP","offer_id":50484163739979,"sku":"2022074","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50484162855243,"sku":"2022072","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50484163182923,"sku":"2022073","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/PUMABLUE_HOLYWATERS_ALBUMCOVER_DIGITAL_5ce7edf2_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727583258"},{"product_id":"in-praise-of-shadows-b-sides-and-live-versions","title":"In Praise Of Shadows (B-Sides and Live Versions)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis does not include the oiginal album but is a collection of b-sides, live takes and rarities. Puma Blue won widespread critical acclaim with the release of his debut LP \u003ci\u003eIn Praise of Shadows \u003c\/i\u003eearlier this year. Described by NME as “a brief moment of relief for those lost in the darkness” the album found his storytelling at its most honest and vulnerable to date whilst his production reached new heights, retaining its characteristic bedroom intimacy. Yet for all the intimacy of his ‘voicemail-ballads’ on record, his songs carry a different resonance in a live setting; a mix of improvisation, in-the-moment escapism and the collective power of an audience taking his music to new heights. It’s something the producer and vocalist, real name Jacob Allen, has had a lot of time to reflect on in the last year, the absence of touring, combined with a move to Atlanta GA, giving him the time and distance to fully appreciate the importance of the record vs. live dichotomy to the way his work is perceived, experienced and felt. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis version includes eight live recordings, mostly taken from rehearsals in early 2021. With limited opportunities for people to hear the album in a live setting thus far, this represents an intimate first glimpse at the magic unique to the full band arrangements. This edition is completed by two new bedroom studio recordings with new single ‘All I Need’ (a Radiohead cover) perfectly extending the album’s small hours spirit, the raw emotion of Puma Blue’s voice growing in tandem with the scale of the initially skeletal production, and the previously unreleased ‘Postcard From Toyko’ exploring loneliness with brutal honesty and a sparse acoustic atmosphere. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blue Flowers Music","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50500597285195,"sku":"1130940","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/15c184f2-64ca-443e-93b4-758df0e1fb5a_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1727778657"},{"product_id":"antichamber","title":"antichamber","description":"\u003cp\u003eSouth-London born, Atlanta-based Puma Blue - the alias of Jacob Allen releases a surprise album, \u003cem\u003eantichamber\u003c\/em\u003e via Blue Flowers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eantichamber\u003c\/em\u003e marks a sonic shift for Puma Blue with Allen writing away from the full band setup focusing on obscure electronic textures and acoustic instrumentation. Whereas Puma Blue’s previous material has honed in on the centre point between trip-hop, Jazz and electronica, \u003cem\u003eantichamber\u003c\/em\u003e demonstrates a raw and direct approach to songwriting. It’s vulnerable and crushingly beautiful with vocals and guitar being the sole components, at times delivering dense narratives (“tapestry”, “hotel room”) and at others the simplest sentiment (“in the absence of you”). \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blue Flowers","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":51292495544651,"sku":"2500011-S","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":51292495577419,"sku":"2500023-S","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5400863181192_1.jpg?v=1739888776"},{"product_id":"croak-dream","title":"Croak Dream","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eWith his new record Croak Dream, Puma Blue (real name Jacob Allen) returns to the spectral intimacy that first won him a cult following, now reimagined with the raw, instinctive energy of his live band. The album fuses lo-fi jazz balladry with jungle breaks, krautrock textures and trip-hop atmosphere, drawing comparisons to Portishead, Jeff Buckley, and D’Angelo.\u003cu\u003e\u003c\/u\u003e\u003cu\u003e\u003c\/u\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eWritten in solitude and brought to life in collaboration, Croak Dream was conjured from tape loop sessions at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, co-produced and engineered by Sam Petts-Davies (The Smile, Frank Ocean) where the band improvised to fragments of Allen’s songs they’d never fully heard. The result is a dreamlike collage of baritone sax-drenched ballads and restless grooves: tender, feverish, and alive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cu\u003e\u003c\/u\u003e\u003cu\u003e\u003c\/u\u003eThis record marks a daring evolution for Puma Blue, balancing bold sonic experimentation with raw emotional clarity, tailor-made for the stage. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PIAS","offers":[{"title":"LP - Deep Ocean","offer_id":53691973730635,"sku":"R5254-1392","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":53691973763403,"sku":"R5254-9916","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":56471477813579,"sku":"R5254-0265","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/CROAKDREAM-PUMABLUE-PACKSHOT.jpg?v=1761081152"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_b6c97223_thumbnail_4096_219a15d2-6a8b-460e-b4bf-ce91877bec69.jpg?v=1727351720","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/puma-blue.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}