It can often be tough for an artist to shake the public perception of themselves based on their work—especially when that work plumbs the emotional depths heard in Jacob Allen’s music the Atlanta-by-way-of-London musician releases as Puma Blue. His forthcoming sophomore record Holy Waters being the latest example of such vulnerabile songwriting, that project’s third single “O, the Blood!” arrives today as a dramatic post-breakup anthem swelling alongside Allen’s uninhibitedly emotional vocal performance.
“I recorded the vocals in one take, sitting on the floor of the studio with an old mic and my eyes closed,” he shares before noting that the song’s odd, ballooning instrumental patchwork is stitched together from samples of ’90s PC games and various sounds collected alongside producer Andrew Sarlo. “I always meant to replace it later, but ended up attached to the raw vulnerability of it.”
To set the record straight, though, Allen used the track as an opportunity to express a much lighter side of his personality which rarely comes through in his recordings. “I find that, because the music is quite serious, people peg me as this moody type,” he adds. “The dynamic in the band is always super silly, making each other laugh constantly, especially on tour.” With this in mind, he cites The Eric Andre Show and I Think You Should Leave (as well as Elvis’s ’68 Comeback Special) as the primary influences on the song’s goofy video, which marks his directorial debut—a “love letter” to his band and their sense of humor, as he puts it.
Check it out below. You can pre-order Holy Waters—out September 1 via Blue Flowers—here, and check out his newly unveiled November US tour dates on his website here.
