Puma Blue, the London-based project of singer-songwriter Jacob Allen has always been in a genre of his own. Puma Blue began in the late 2010s with bedroom recordings and SoundCloud releases.He gained a following for a jazz, R&B, lo-fi and soul fusion that feels very up close and personal. With “In Praise of Shadows” released in 2021, for example, Puma Blue thrived on this atmosphere with a raw, simple and deeply emotional sound. But on “Croak Dream” released on Feb. 6, 2026, something is way different. Not different in a negative sense, but different in a positive one. “Croak Dream” is an improvement over Puma Blue’s earlier work. 

“Croak Dream” hits from the very start. The production is more polished and clean. Recorded in part at Real World Studios and produced by Sam Petts-Davies, these songs are a far cry from the fuzzy and distant quality of Puma Blue’s previous work. The guitars are crisp and shimmering, the arrangements are creative and open-ended, and Puma Blue’s vocals, though still gentle and subdued, are front and center. Puma Blue is taking a step forward without sacrificing his charm. This is his most accessible and finished work for fans.

What’s noticeable from the jump is his consistency. It is an album with a steady and immersive feel to it with each song flowing almost perfectly into the next. Some argue that the album relies too much on its atmosphere with songs that drift rather than dramatically evolve. But in this case, it is something that is done well the majority of the time. Rather than feeling repetitive, it creates space to fully sink into a slow and hazy world.

Of course, there are moments where everything comes together and it is even stronger. When the instrumentation is stripped back his vulnerability shines through, and feels very much his own. It is almost as though the emotional center of the song is still there, it has just been presented in a more controlled way.

Here’s the run down; “Croak Dream” streamlines some of the rough edges that characterized his early work, replacing them with a sense of clarity and purpose. It’s as delicate or unpredictable as his previous work, but it has a newfound feel of excitement. Rather than being lost in his abstraction, Puma Blue sounds like he knows exactly what he wants to create.

As a consumer of his work, you can’t help but feel that he has earned such a transformation. “Croak Dream” is an amazing album not because he has done anything particularly revolutionary with his sound, but because he has honed his craft so well.