"The whole point of this record was to share every emotion that I feel," says THE SOFT MOON aka Luis Vasquez. "No two songs are the same. It's about existing in the world as a human being and experiencing many emotions and experiences throughout life." Hence the title "Exister", an album about the ecstatic joys and crippling depths of life and how persevering and existing is sometimes all we have. The reason why the album is so personal for Vasquez is that his life changed a lot during the making of the album. He left Berlin, his home of many years, and moved to Joshua Tree to find some space musically and personally during the lockdown. It feels like a musical reboot of sorts for Vasquez. The album cover features a photo of Vasquez as a child and is representative of a record that was about reconnecting with his younger self, with a mother-son relationship at the heart of the album. "It's my child self that you hear all over it," he says. "I was reminiscing and hurting a lot during the writing process. This is possibly my most vulnerable record yet." Yet despite the pain, anger, vulnerability and hurt at the core of this record, there is also a deep sense of hope and beauty. On the closing title track "Exister", the album seems to reach a place of peace and comfort, ending with a quiet, reflective and poignant moment that captures a sense of optimism after a time of upheaval.