Puma Blue AKA: Jacob Allen, has shared a brand new single. “O, The Blood!,” the track follows recent singles “Hounds” and “Pretty”, and is taken his forthcoming album, Holy Waters, available September 1st via Blue Flowers.

The black & white video, shot entirely to VHS at Colour Factory in Hackney, is Jacob’s directorial debut. He explains, “I wanted the first video I directed to be fun to make and fun to watch. I grew up entranced by goofy videos but I find that, because the music is quite serious, people peg me as this moody type. The dynamic in the band is always super silly, making each other laugh constantly, especially on tour. This video is a love letter to that (and to them), paying homage to our collective love for The Eric Andre Show, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson and Elvis’s ’68 Comeback Special”

The single, a moody, whispered, ballad that explodes into a dizzying trip hop climax topped by screaming hammond organ and distorted, wailing vocals, was recorded at Echo Zoo Studios in 2022 and produced by Puma Blue with contributions from Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Dijon).

Jacob adds “‘O, The Blood!’ is about the hyperbolic feelings you experience after a break up, as if you were written for that person like in an imagined Shakespearean play. I recorded the vocals in one take, sitting on the floor of the studio with an old mic and my eyes closed. I always meant to replace it later, but ended up attached to the raw vulnerability of it. Most of the wonky sounds were made with my friend Sarlo, and the rest were from old 90’s PC games my Dad used to play.”

Recorded with his live band over the course of two visits to Eastbourne’s Echo Zoo Studios, a joy permeates each sonic corner of Holy Waters, 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.

Puma Blue 2023 North American Tour Dates

November

2 – San Diego CA, Music Box
3 – Los Angeles CA, Echoplex
4 – San Francisco CA, Bimbo’s
6 – Portland OR, Holocene
7 – Seattle WA, Madame Lous
10 – St Paul MN, Turf Club
11 – Chicago IL, Empty Bottle
12 – Detroit MI, The Magic Bag
14 – Toronto ON, Great Hall
15 – Montreal QC, Bar Le Ritz PDB
17 – Boston MA, Sinclair
18 – New York NY, (Le) Poisson Rouge
19 – Philadelphia PA, Underground Arts
22 – Atlanta GA, Terminal West

Pre-order Holy Waters by Puma Blue HERE