Last October, Atlanta based, London born artist Jacob Allen – of the moniker Puma Blue- returned across the pond to tour the release of his second LP ‘Holy waters’. The record burrows further into his signature lo-fi branch of neo-soul, whilst facing themes of mortality and a darker, more mournful side of the human psyche. The Mic’s Ross Williams sat down with the Jacob Allen, just before the final show of his European tour at the Hare & Hounds in Birmingham, to discuss his latest release; plus, the emotions and aesthetics that informed its creation.
“The ultimate goal of the album was to write something that came naturally. I was writing a lot of stuff that wasn't really working for me and I was getting a bit jaded about the writing process in general. Allowing myself to have more fun with the music and waking up the writer in me that I was exploring as a teenager, letting the lyrics flow from a purer place. Strangely, this mortality, loss and grief thing just kept following me around and it felt like it was ninety percent of what I was writing about”.
The result is a cathartic and, at times, devastating purge of emotion that places the listener between the peturbed throes of death and a sacrosanct peace. externalising and communicating these emotions takes precedence for Jacob, as he strips away the sexy, cool cat front that was adorned on his early EPs, “You can over-intellectualize it, but at the end of the day, it's just sounds that make you feel something. So, I think that's always a starting place, like how do I want this tune to make people feel?”.
The singles, pretty and Hounds, proved that Jacob wasn’t going to be pigeon-holed into a sound with his sophomore record. Hounds experiments with a dub like, incising bassline alongside clashing, glissando sax and synth lines, creating a wan sense of impending mortal deliverance akin to a Keats poem. Pretty endows listeners with one of the strongest melodies Jacob has sung to date, with the timeless song reflecting on insecurity and vulnerability within a relationship. The music videos that accompanied the album went beyond doing their songs justice. With their sepia tones and lucid cinematography, one can’t help but wonder what aesthetics influences informed their creation,” I'll delve into the themes a bit- that's what the eyes on the cover art are about- the imagery and motifs are often allusions to the lyrical content. I was also watching a lot of Jean Cocteau films, that stuff has such staying power, you end up feeling influenced and wanting to pay homage to the things that you see.”
"Music is a beautiful channel for those kinds of darker feelings. Whether you're someone that struggles with anger, jealousy, suffering quietly- or whatever it is. Men are raised to express themselves less, it's super unhealthy. Music being normalised as a way for men to just to express themselves in a safe way, just with noise- It’s a really powerful alchemy.”
Reflecting on directing O,The Blood! and the unreleased video for Falling Down, Jacob said, “I absolutely loved being on that side of the camera. Some of those jokes (On O, The Blood!) are borrowed from sh*t that made me laugh; I was trying to just put a fun spin on that tune.” The conversation led to Jacob’s ambitions beyond the Puma Blue project, transcending the moniker, “I would love to do a film score. If it was just me as a composer, that would be a dream come true -especially if it an instrumental film score”.
The live show is the quintessence of experiencing Puma Blue’s music. New tracks such as Gates (Wait for me) stood out, capturing the band’s ability to develop canyons of texture and expiring passion out of a single, stark motif. The LP itself is very good at capturing the ethereal and spontaneous nature of the live show because it was recorded in a studio with the entire the band - a departure from Jacob’s usual bedroom producing routine. “We only used the five instruments featured in the live show and everyone (the band plus my friend Luke) is quite tasteful. Writing and recording with the band gave me something to go off, whereas, In praise of shadows was me trying to build tracks alone in my room and trying to make it sound like a real album”. To finish, I enquired about Jacob’s views on making music and how it can be an outlet for men and a possible tonic to toxic masculinity, a subject he has been vocal about in the past, “I think music is an amazing outlet for emotions that shouldn't be directed at people, or even internalised. It's a beautiful channel for those kinds of darker feelings, whether you're someone that struggles with anger, jealousy, suffering quietly- or whatever it is. I think men are raised to express themselves less, it's super unhealthy. Music being normalised as a way for men to just to express themselves in a safe way, just with noise-It’s a really powerful alchemy”.
Written by Ross Williams
Print edition art and design by Josie Layton
Images courtesy of Puma Blue's Facebook
Comments