# Puma Blue
**Puma Blue** is the stage name of Jacob Allen (born 1995), an English singer, songwriter, producer and poet known for a languid, atmospheric blend of alternative R&B, indie rock, downtempo and 1990s trip-hop, marked by a falsetto vocal and dark lo-fi textures.[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115) He first found recognition in the [South London](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-london) music scene before moving to Atlanta, where he now lives.[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue) • [3](https://americansongwriter.com/puma-blue-outlines-the-inspirations-behind-his-debut-album-in-praise-of-shadows/) His releases span the EPs Swum Baby (2017) and Blood Loss (2018), the live album *on his own.* (2019), the albums [In Praise of Shadows](https://www.edgepedia.org/in-praise-of-shadows) (2021) and Holy Waters (2023), the 2025 sister albums antichamber and extchamber, and Croak Dream (2026).[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Identity | Stage name of Jacob Allen, artist, producer and poet, born 1995 in Hurst Green, Sussex, England[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115) |
| Sound | Indie rock, alternative R&B, downtempo and '90s trip-hop blended with a whispered falsetto and lo-fi production; self-tagged "dream soul," "gothicr&b," and "dial tone blues"[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115) • [3](https://americansongwriter.com/puma-blue-outlines-the-inspirations-behind-his-debut-album-in-praise-of-shadows/) |
| Breakthrough | Self-posted songs from 2014; wider attention with the EPs Swum Baby (2017) and Blood Loss (2018)[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115) • [1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue) |
| Albums | In Praise of Shadows (2021) and Holy Waters (2023) on Blue Flowers; antichamber and extchamber (2025); Croak Dream (2026) on Play It Again Sam[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115) |
| Method | Debut album recorded largely DIY on a laptop; Croak Dream built partly from collaged tape loops recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios[3](https://americansongwriter.com/puma-blue-outlines-the-inspirations-behind-his-debut-album-in-praise-of-shadows/) • [4](https://www.musicweek.com/publishing/read/faber-alt-signs-artist-producer-and-poet-puma-blue/095163) |
| Base | Relocated from Hackney, London to Atlanta around the debut album's release; also records as Ruby Bliels and Shadow Carp[3](https://americansongwriter.com/puma-blue-outlines-the-inspirations-behind-his-debut-album-in-praise-of-shadows/) • [1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue) |
| Audience | Millions of streams accumulated since his 2014 SoundCloud demo "Only Trying 2 Tell U"[5](https://www.clashmusic.com/features/the-human-experience-puma-blue-interviewed/) |
## Early life and background
Jacob Allen was born in 1995 in Hurst Green, Sussex, England, and spent his adolescence in Hurst Green and later Redhill near Croydon.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115) Music ran in the household: his mother was a flutist and his father a trombonist, and for his seventh birthday his parents gave him a drum lesson, after which, in his words, he "was just obsessed with the drums."
He started on drums and taught himself guitar in his teens.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115)
He attended the [BRIT School](https://www.edgepedia.org/brit-school), the Croydon performing-arts school, and then moved to South East London, where he adopted the name Puma Blue and began posting songs online in 2014.[3](https://americansongwriter.com/puma-blue-outlines-the-inspirations-behind-his-debut-album-in-praise-of-shadows/) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115)
## Career
**SoundCloud beginnings.** Allen's earliest widely heard track was the 2014 [SoundCloud](https://www.edgepedia.org/soundcloud) demo "Only Trying 2 Tell U."[5](https://www.clashmusic.com/features/the-human-experience-puma-blue-interviewed/) After early acclaim from demos, he gained wider attention with the EPs Swum Baby (2017) and Blood Loss (2018), which established his falsetto-led, lo-fi style in the South London scene.[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue) In 2019 a live album, *on his own.*, was released; it had been recorded without Allen's knowledge during a solo set at Eddie's Attic in Atlanta.[3](https://americansongwriter.com/puma-blue-outlines-the-inspirations-behind-his-debut-album-in-praise-of-shadows/)
**In Praise of Shadows (2021).** His debut album took its title from the 1977 essay by Japanese writer [Jun'ichirō Tanizaki](https://www.edgepedia.org/junichiro-tanizaki), a key reference for the record.[3](https://americansongwriter.com/puma-blue-outlines-the-inspirations-behind-his-debut-album-in-praise-of-shadows/) The album was largely a DIY project, recorded on his laptop wherever he was, with some work at his friend [Harvey Grant](https://www.edgepedia.org/harvey-grant)'s house and two full-band tracks cut at a friend's London studio.[3](https://americansongwriter.com/puma-blue-outlines-the-inspirations-behind-his-debut-album-in-praise-of-shadows/) NPR reported around its release that the 25-year-old artist had channeled more than a decade of insomnia into the record, which critics called a "sonic dreamland."[6](https://www.npr.org/2021/02/06/964764292/awake-in-the-dark-a-musician-finds-his-muse) It was followed by the concert film *A Late Night Special*.[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue)
**Holy Waters (2023).** His second album was a band-focused meditation on love and grief, framed by the artist as "a love letter to mortality," and was followed by touring across Asia, Mexico, Europe and North America.[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue) • [5](https://www.clashmusic.com/features/the-human-experience-puma-blue-interviewed/)
**Side work.** Allen has accumulated notable co-writing and production credits for [Loyle Carner](https://www.edgepedia.org/loyle-carner) and Biig Piig, and Faber Alt signed him to a music publishing deal.[4](https://www.musicweek.com/publishing/read/faber-alt-signs-artist-producer-and-poet-puma-blue/095163)
## Musical style and influences
AllMusic characterizes Puma Blue's sound as a blend of indie rock, alternative R&B, downtempo, and '90s trip-hop.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115) Allen has applied his own tags on Bandcamp: "dream soul," "gothicr&b," and "dial tone blues," and his work has been described as intimate, jazz-inflected bedroom R&B with DIY production.[3](https://americansongwriter.com/puma-blue-outlines-the-inspirations-behind-his-debut-album-in-praise-of-shadows/) A FLOOD profile describes his eclecticism as ranging from dreamy soul to alt-rock to jazz to lo-fi, with his emotive falsetto as the identifiable throughline.[7](https://floodmagazine.com/217886/puma-blue-croak-dream-track-by-track/) In conversation with the musician Joan As Police Woman, he discussed reworking the bass guitar as a rhythm instrument or a sound maker rather than a vehicle for conventional bass lines.[8](https://talkhouse.com/puma-blue-and-joan-as-police-woman-get-vulnerable)
His stated influences include Björk, especially her album [Vespertine](https://www.edgepedia.org/vespertine), D'Angelo, Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, Sade, and [J Dilla](https://www.edgepedia.org/j-dilla).[3](https://americansongwriter.com/puma-blue-outlines-the-inspirations-behind-his-debut-album-in-praise-of-shadows/) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115) The Tanizaki essay behind the debut album's title is itself part of this aesthetic of shadow and intimacy.[3](https://americansongwriter.com/puma-blue-outlines-the-inspirations-behind-his-debut-album-in-praise-of-shadows/)
## Reception and audience
Clash magazine notes that Puma Blue has racked up millions upon millions of streams since the 2014 SoundCloud demo "Only Trying 2 Tell U."[5](https://www.clashmusic.com/features/the-human-experience-puma-blue-interviewed/) NPR described the debut album as a "sonic dreamland" born of more than a decade of insomnia, and Holy Waters was framed by the artist as "a love letter to mortality."[6](https://www.npr.org/2021/02/06/964764292/awake-in-the-dark-a-musician-finds-his-muse) • [5](https://www.clashmusic.com/features/the-human-experience-puma-blue-interviewed/)
## What has changed since 2023
After Holy Waters, Allen toured extensively in Asia, Mexico, Europe and North America.[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue) In 2025 he returned with his third and fourth full-lengths, antichamber and extchamber, released on Blue Flowers and announced mere hours before release; extchamber was built from minimalist arrangements and field recordings, and together the pair strip his songs down to an intimate, elemental core.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115) • [1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue)
The two 2025 releases began from the same creative spark, and FLOOD describes antichamber and the 2026 follow-up as a yin and yang to each other, released a year apart nearly to the day.[7](https://floodmagazine.com/217886/puma-blue-croak-dream-track-by-track/) Croak Dream, his next album, appeared in 2026 on Play It Again Sam, a change from Blue Flowers.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115) It draws on Bristol trip-hop and 90s subculture and was built partly from collaged tape loops from jam sessions at [Peter Gabriel](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-gabriel)'s Real World Studios.[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue) • [4](https://www.musicweek.com/publishing/read/faber-alt-signs-artist-producer-and-poet-puma-blue/095163) Allen describes it as more electronics-based and less curated and freer than antichamber, calling its creation "actually kind of a nightmare" and difficult and unnatural.[7](https://floodmagazine.com/217886/puma-blue-croak-dream-track-by-track/) AllMusic calls it a heavily layered return to his earlier sound.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115)
The Croak Dream Tour's final dates were scheduled for October and November, including a planned biggest headline show to date at the Teatro Metropolitan in Mexico City on November 5. A companion release, Croak Deluxe, was scheduled for November 13 with five unreleased bonus tracks and four live recordings from the tour.[4](https://www.musicweek.com/publishing/read/faber-alt-signs-artist-producer-and-poet-puma-blue/095163) • [1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue)
Sources differ on how Croak Dream is counted: Faber Alt calls it his fourth full-length album, while AllMusic counts antichamber and extchamber as his third and fourth, making Croak Dream his fifth.[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115)
## Personal life and location
Allen relocated from Hackney, London, to Atlanta around the release of his debut album, and he remains rooted in Atlanta.[3](https://americansongwriter.com/puma-blue-outlines-the-inspirations-behind-his-debut-album-in-praise-of-shadows/) • [9](https://www.clashmusic.com/features/theres-a-joy-in-the-pain-puma-blue-interviewed/) There he writes poetry and makes music under the more mysterious monikers Ruby Bliels and Shadow Carp, alongside short films and music videos.[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue) On the move itself, he has observed that although everyone in America speaks English, "it's a very different culture, people are a lot more vocal and expressive," a difference he notices between US and UK audiences.[9](https://www.clashmusic.com/features/theres-a-joy-in-the-pain-puma-blue-interviewed/)
## Live performances
Allen had performed live for a decade by the mid-2020s, having gotten his start in London.[9](https://www.clashmusic.com/features/theres-a-joy-in-the-pain-puma-blue-interviewed/) His band shows blend jazz and dub-influenced improvisation with vocal energy often likened to [Jeff Buckley](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeff-buckley).[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue) Touring has taken him across Asia, Mexico, Europe and North America, with the Teatro Metropolitan show in Mexico City on November 5 as his biggest headline date to date.[4](https://www.musicweek.com/publishing/read/faber-alt-signs-artist-producer-and-poet-puma-blue/095163) • [1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue)
## Discography
- **Swum Baby** (EP, 2017)[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue)
- **Blood Loss** (EP, 2018)[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue)
- ***on his own.*** (live album, 2019), recorded without his knowledge at Eddie's Attic, Atlanta[3](https://americansongwriter.com/puma-blue-outlines-the-inspirations-behind-his-debut-album-in-praise-of-shadows/)
- **In Praise of Shadows** (album, 2021, Blue Flowers)[3](https://americansongwriter.com/puma-blue-outlines-the-inspirations-behind-his-debut-album-in-praise-of-shadows/) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115)
- ***A Late Night Special*** (concert film)[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue)
- **Holy Waters** (album, 2023, Blue Flowers)[1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115)
- **antichamber** and **extchamber** (sister albums, 2025, Blue Flowers)[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115) • [1](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue)
- **Croak Dream** (album, 2026, Play It Again Sam), followed by **Croak Deluxe**, scheduled for November 13[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115) • [4](https://www.musicweek.com/publishing/read/faber-alt-signs-artist-producer-and-poet-puma-blue/095163)
## References
1. [Puma Blue — Faber Alt (publisher biography)](https://www.faberalt.com/puma-blue)
2. [Puma Blue — AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/puma-blue-mn0003701115)
3. [Puma Blue Outlines the Inspirations Behind His Debut Album, 'In Praise of Shadows' — American Songwriter](https://americansongwriter.com/puma-blue-outlines-the-inspirations-behind-his-debut-album-in-praise-of-shadows/)
4. [Faber Alt signs artist, producer and poet Puma Blue — Music Week](https://www.musicweek.com/publishing/read/faber-alt-signs-artist-producer-and-poet-puma-blue/095163)
5. [The Human Experience: Puma Blue Interviewed — Clash Magazine](https://www.clashmusic.com/features/the-human-experience-puma-blue-interviewed/)
6. [Awake In The Dark, A Musician Finds His Muse — NPR](https://www.npr.org/2021/02/06/964764292/awake-in-the-dark-a-musician-finds-his-muse)
7. [Puma Blue Walks Us Through the "Unnatural" Processes Behind New LP "Croak Dream" — FLOOD](https://floodmagazine.com/217886/puma-blue-croak-dream-track-by-track/)
8. [Puma Blue and Joan As Police Woman Get Vulnerable — Talkhouse](https://talkhouse.com/puma-blue-and-joan-as-police-woman-get-vulnerable)
9. ["There's A Joy In The Pain" Puma Blue Interviewed — Clash Magazine](https://www.clashmusic.com/features/theres-a-joy-in-the-pain-puma-blue-interviewed/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Pop and R&B singer-songwriters › R&B singers, 2010s to present › Surnames symbols to G*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license