If you’re looking for a Sunday afternoon playlist then look no further.

REINS is Chris Pearce’s (Saviour) solo project. He has recently released his exquisite debut EP, What Keeps Me Here. I don’t think I’ve listened to this yet and not gotten goosebumps or tears. What Keeps Me Here has such a beautiful ambience, even though the songs touch heavily on mental health, and I have been besotted by this release since I first played it.

What Keeps Me Here is one of those albums that you close your eyes and reflect. Chris’s lilting vocals make you lean in a bit closer and instrumentally stripped back adding to the emotional journey this takes you on.

Every song has a magical component about it even though it is lyrically heavy. Losing My Mind starts with chatter, as in the chatter you hear in your head. It tells the story of the emotional turmoil that a person goes through. The night terrors, the demons that haunt you and the physical impact that it has on your life. Temporary Fix talks about self-medicating with substances in the hope of easing the pain and despair that you feel in those dark moments, using them as a temporary fix to numb the pain. Brightness is an apology for those missed chances that happen when you are lost to the darkness. Wanting to make amends for the pain you have caused others. That feeling of home is where your heart is, with the person you love, not just a physical place. Grey and Old is like a flood of memories told from the present. Reminiscing the things that have yet to happen in the life that you wish to live and about depression not taking that life from you. It’s a song of hope when you come out the other side of the darkness. Storm Clouds seems to take us full circle. Knowing that you need support and reaching out for help when you can’t dig yourself out of the hellhole that you are living in. What Keeps Me Here reflects on the thoughts of wanting to give up but having that one person that you hold on for. No matter how bad it gets and how when you hit that dark hellish place that person brings you back from the brink.

What Keeps Me Here is a journey through the darkest of times but told in the most beautiful of ways.

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