Black Pumas

There’s a warm crackle running through Black Pumas, the kind that makes a new record feel lived in. The debut album from the Austin duo—Eric Burton and producer Adrian Quesada—channels vintage soul through a cinematic lens, with a sound that’s equal parts velvet and fire.

From the opening bars, it’s clear this is no mere throwback. Burton’s vocals move with a preacher’s urgency and a poet’s restraint, weaving tales of hope, struggle and redemption over Quesada’s lush, analogue-tinged arrangements. It’s a record drenched in feeling, from the shimmering falsetto of “Oct 33” to the gospel-flecked crescendo of “Colors”—the breakout track that earned the band two Grammy nods, including Record of the Year.

Despite its modest chart position (peaking at 86 on the Billboard 200), Black Pumas landed with impact. The deluxe edition’s nomination for Album of the Year at the 2021 Grammys wasn’t just a nod to polish, but to presence—a reminder that soul, when done right, still hits like a revelation.

This is debut-as-statement: confident, cohesive, and unapologetically emotional. Black Pumas didn’t just arrive—they arrived in technicolour.