Croak Dream finds Puma Blue (born Jacob Allen) exploring trip-hop, dub, and stark singer-songwriter work, honouring greats like Rachmaninoff, Deftones, Tom Waits, and CAN. Previously released singles ‘Desire’, ‘Croak Dream’, and ‘Hush’ introduced the existential motif at the album’s centre: If you knew how and when you were going to die, how would it change how you decided to live?
Recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios with co-producer and mixer Sam Petts-Davies (Thom Yorke, Warpaint), Croak Dream expands Puma Blue’s sonic world through an idiosyncratic approach. The band recorded textural ideas over fragmented loops of demos rather than precise arrangements. Back in London, Jacob and Sam assembled these improvisations into Frankenstein’s monster-type collages.
Since emerging with intimate early EPs that cemented him as a legacy artist within London’s jazz scene, Jacob has continued to explore new sounds since relocating to Atlanta in 2021. His 2021 debut In Praise of Shadows was followed by 2023’s full-band pivot Holy Waters, while last year’s acoustic-leaning antichamber and extchamber releases marked a creative reset.
Release: February 6, 2026, Play It Again Sam