Devon Gilfillian Says New Album “Time Will Tell” Captures Him in 'Real Time Reflecting' on Love and Loss (Exclusive)

Chris BarillaFri, June 26, 2026 at 6:00 PM UTC

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Devon GilfillianCredit: Travys Owen -

Devon Gilfillian's new album reflects on heartbreak, gratitude for his father's recovery and the fleeting nature of time

He produced the album himself, blending Philadelphia soul with Nashville influences to create a unique, genre-defying sound

Gilfillian explores personal growth through honest lyrics about love, loss and embracing life's imperfections

After navigating heartbreak, uncertainty and a life-changing family health scare, Devon Gilfillian is channeling it all in the way he knows best: by turning complicated emotions into music.

On Time Will Tell, the Nashville-by-way-of-Philadelphia artist's most vulnerable record yet, he tells PEOPLE he was "in real time reflecting my relationship at the time." Additionally, he recalls "reflecting the gratitude that my dad's still alive after he had a heart attack" as well as "perspective of life ... how short this life is and how much time we get — it's not that much."

Within Time Will Tell exist these two narratives: one of personal loss and one of personal triumph against the odds. Diving into the loss first, Gilfillian opted to not create a traditional breakup album centered on blame. By approaching with accountability and honesty, as well as a forced third-person perspective on situations discussed, the songs became a way to examine his own role in a relationship that ultimately wasn't meant to last.

"It takes two to tango," he admits. "It takes two people to be part of the codependency cycle and that was what we were in."

Devon GilfillianCredit: Travys Owen

For Gilfillian, achieving that level of honesty on his new collection of music was an uncomfortable task. That discomfort was compounded when he recognized that the woman who inspired some of the album's most intimate moments would eventually be able to pick up her phone and stream them at any given time.

"It was definitely uncomfortable, definitely uncomfortable in also even just talking about it and knowing that she's going to hear it all," the artist says. However, he hopes she doesn't take his work as an attempt to diminish her or the time they spent together.

On "Let's Stop F---ing Around," Gilfillian tackles frustration surrounding wanting clarity from a partner and from himself. Similarly, songs like "Moonflower" explores a quieter kind of heartbreak that involves loving someone whose differences make connection difficult.

"I hope that she hears it and knows that I'm grateful for that time that we spent together and don't look at it as a waste of time," he explains. "It was time spent learning how to love and that's how I wanted to come across."

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Addressing the other emotionally weighted concept on the album — his father navigating an earth-shattering heart attack — Gilfillian was forced to confront the reality head-on that time with loved ones is never guaranteed.

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"My gratitude evolved by also expanding the realization of mortality and in our parents' mortality and the mortality of people that we love — they're not always going to be around," he says. As a result, his perspective on relationships, both old and new, was forced into evolution.

"How do we soak in the time that we get with them as much as we can?" he shares. "That was the gratitude that I felt like my capacity expanded in that way."

Time Will Tell also represents a new level of independence for Gilfillian, who stepped fully into the role of guiding his own sound throughout the project. "I was like, I'm ready. I want to produce this record myself," he notes. "I knew the vision, I knew the sound I want to get."

And by effectively balancing the soul traditions of his Philadelphia upbringing with the songwriting culture and Southern mannerisms he discovered after moving to Nashville, Time Will Tell builds a sonic bridge between the Northeast and the South in a manner only similarly evoked by the likes of the legendary John Oates, another Philadelphia-to-Nashville artist.

"It never felt like the identities coming from Philly and Nashville, those identities were fighting," he makes known. "I felt like Nashville was almost like an incubator and it was growing, letting me grow and take everything that I'd learned in Philly."

Devon GilfillianCredit: Travys Owen

The resulting product is an album that effortlessly flows between genres. Not all the way R&B, not definitively Americana, and certainly not country, Gilfillian creates his own sonic lane by pairing warm, expansive arrangements with a Southern tinge and powerful lyrics that wrestle weightier, universal truths about visceral emotions.

"I truly think it's science," Gilfillian says of music's ability to carry difficult messages. "Music has this power to, before the words even hit you, your heart syncs up to the pace of the music."

For the artist, he believes he has that science down pat in his delivery formula. "The ultimate subliminal trick is to put this really sad message in this beautiful little dish," he notes.

Ultimately, Time Will Tell is a snapshot of an artist accepting change and wearing his flaws as badges of honor rather than fighting them. "You have to keep evolving," Gilfillian says.

Time Will Tell is available on all major streaming platforms now.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”