In June, we featured Eye of TJ as he delivered a cohesive journey through love, loss and personal catharsis with his powerful EP, Knowing the Risk, so when we found out that he was back already with This Time, we couldn’t wait to immerse ourselves in the track and share our feelings.
This Time opens with an emotive piano performance and hummed ad-libs before TJ shares the raw and personal lyrics, “We were golden in the quiet days, laughing like the world would never change… So many years felt like forever safe, like nothing could slip through our hands…”
The track builds with a timeless vulnerability, a high emotional quotient, and a zeitgeist expression of what many of us have experienced. The soundscape is quintessentially Eye of TJ-coded, and we always appreciate his cohesive approach to music creation.
As for the narrative, it takes us into the emotional battlefield of trying to save someone whilst simultaneously losing pieces of yourself. This feels applicable on a personal and universal level. There is a visceral authenticity to the lyricism as TJ explores that moment when love, loyalty and self-preservation become almost impossible to distinguish.
We could imagine this featuring in a film like A Star Is Born, The Butterfly Effect or a movie like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. This Time holds an impressive sense of stadium-ready scale, and we learn that the track also signals another evolution for the artist.
It serves as the lead single from the forthcoming album Endless War, set to arrive in September 2026. We love how these words are included at the end of the middle eight, once again showcasing the clever Easter Eggs and self-referential nature of TJ’s artistry. There is a clear sense that TJ is entering another chapter here, whilst retaining the emotional honesty that has defined his work from the beginning.
Naturally, we are obsessed and cannot wait to hear the album in full, in the meantime, we have added This Time to our New Music Spotlight playlist and our TIMELESS playlist, whilst we continue to stream Knowing the Risk and TJ’s growing discography.