For TT, music has never just been about performance; it has always been about survival, transformation, and truth. On his new album, Dancing on the Ocean, the actor, singer/songwriter expands that truth into his most emotionally and sonically adventurous body of work yet: a record about identity, connection, longing, resilience, and choosing your own way forward in a world that often asks you to conform.
As an artist whose work blends rock, pop, Americana, piano balladry, and cinematic storytelling, TT introduced listeners to his deeply personal songwriting in 2025 with his debut album, Man on the Corner. But where that record was rooted in survival and reflection, Dancing on the Ocean feels like movement, a bold, emotionally charged step into new creative territory. It is an album that embraces contradiction: vulnerable yet defiant, intimate yet expansive, reflective yet alive with energy.
That tension has always been part of TT’s life. Diagnosed with a chronic kidney condition as a child, he spent years navigating physical pain, emotional trauma, and the uncertainty that comes with serious illness. During those years, music became both refuge and release, a place where fear, hope, grief, and imagination could coexist. Those early experiences still shape his writing today, giving his songs an emotional honesty that feels lived-in rather than performed.
With Dancing on the Ocean, TT takes honesty to new forms. The title track, co-written with Emile Ghantous and Sam SZND, captures the album’s emotional core: the feeling of existing outside the expected, learning to trust your own instincts, and becoming comfortable with not fitting neatly into the world around you. It’s a song about self-acceptance, confidence, and protecting your peace, all delivered through an energy that signals a fresh chapter in TT’s sound.
Across the album, TT moves between the personal and the universal with ease. The first single from the album “My Dear Woman” explores the guilt and self-awareness that come with ending a long relationship, while “Paintings on the Sidewalk” turns unrequited love into a striking metaphor about an artist offering their heart to the world and waiting to be seen, especially by the one they love.
“Can’t Cry Anymore” reflects on the emotional disconnection created by modern technology, and “New World” pushes outward into a broader call for unity, action, and resistance against hate, racism, and division. TT leans into playfulness and swagger on “Stuck in Traffic,” and channels cinematic redemption on “Sweet Redemption,” the theme song for the upcoming movie Dustlands, in which TT has a prominent role. In total, the album reveals an artist who is not interested in staying in one lane sonically or emotionally. Instead, TT follows the song wherever it needs to go, letting each track find its own shape while remaining rooted in a clear emotional center.
That openness is reflected in the making of the album itself. While TT has long been a deeply personal songwriter, Dancing on the Ocean marks a meaningful evolution in his creative process, collaborating with a diverse list of songwriters and producers whose backgrounds span success in the pop, alternative, sync, and global music genres.
These collaborators include Emile Ghantous, a Grammy-nominated producer, NAACP Award winner, and ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Award recipient (Charlie Wilson and Frankie J), Sam SZND, a songwriter/producer (NCT Dream’s mega-hit “Glitch Mode”), Mathias Gavriel, a globally recognized songwriter, producer, and composer (Jon Batiste, Kesha, Belinda Carlisle, Diane Warren, and Pentatonix) whose work has appeared across Netflix, Hulu, and The CW, Sheppard Solomon, an acclaimed songwriter ( Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Kelly Clarkson, One Direction and Natalie Imbruglia) as well as multi-platinum and 8 billion streaming songwriter Justin Gray (Avril Lavigne, Mariah Carey, John Legend, David Bisbal, Luis Fonsi, and Joss Stone). Together, these creators have helped to expand the album’s emotional and sonic range while still keeping TT’s voice and storytelling firmly at the center.
TT’s growing body of work has also earned industry recognition, winning Best Original Song and Best Production at The European Music Awards, as well as a Bronze Medal from the Global Music Awards for “Heal My Mind.” Both “Heal My Mind” and “My Confession” have earned nominations and honorable mentions across multiple film festivals, while his music has been praised by dozens of publications and spotlighted in both national and international interviews.
On screen, TT has continued to expand his storytelling into visual and narrative work. He appeared as the central character in the music videos for “My Dear Woman,” “Let Us Breathe,” “My Confession,” and “Heal My Mind.”
Now in 2026, TT has expanded into film and acting, appearing with Malin Akerman in the upcoming thriller The Hook, which also features Michael Jai White. His acting career significantly elevates with his most prominent screen role to date in the post-apocalyptic action feature Dustlands, (Terrence Howard, Ruby Rose, Chad Michael Collins, Guillermo Ivan), that was directed by veteran action filmmaker Art Camacho, a supporting role in the upcoming movie Marx directed by Louis Mandylor (Bren Foster, Mekhi Phifer), and an upcoming cameo role in Exorcist Archives. TT also has a co-lead role in an upcoming science fiction film with Mekhi Phifer, Tom Berrenger and Dylan McDermott. These roles have been a part of TT’s ability to build a cross-disciplinary career that bridges music, film, and visual storytelling.
With Dancing on the Ocean, TT is not just telling stories; he’s building a body of work defined by courage, honesty, and the refusal to waste a moment. Whether through a character on screen or a lyric delivered from the gut, TT creates art that transforms survival into something both universal and profoundly human.
Contact: Deborah Radel at DRPR, deborah@drpr.us