Finn Wolfhard continues to establish himself on his own musical terms with Fire From The Hip, a lively and wide-ranging second solo album that expands considerably on the homemade charm of last year’s Happy Birthday. Across 12 songs, Wolfhard digs deeper into the guitar music he grew up loving while opening the door to country, folk, garage rock and flashes of electronic experimentation.

Music has long been a serious pursuit for Wolfhard. Before stepping out under his own name, the Vancouver native fronted Calpurnia and later the Aubreys, gradually developing as a songwriter, guitarist and vocalist alongside his increasingly high-profile acting career. With Fire From The Hip, that evolution feels especially pronounced. Wolfhard sounds increasingly comfortable putting his own name at the center of the record and following his instincts wherever they lead.

Recorded in February 2026 with engineer Andrew Humphrey, Fire From The Hip trades much of the four-track cassette approach of Happy Birthday for the greater possibilities of 24-track reel-to-reel recording. Wolfhard has cited the Rolling Stones’ Exile On Main St. and Beggars Banquet among the album’s inspirations, while also looking toward the loose, rootsy character of early Wilco. The result has a broader reach without sacrificing the scrappy personality that has defined his music from the beginning.

Opener “I’ll Let You Finish” immediately shows Wolfhard’s playful side, its title nodding to Kanye West’s infamous 2009 MTV Video Music Awards interruption. From there, songs including “Common Side Effects,” “Follow,” “Tunnels,” “Trail,” “Crater” and “The Climb (Not That One)” move through jangly indie rock, garage punk and Americana, with mandolin, drum machines and other unexpected touches appearing along the way.

Wolfhard also stretches himself as a lyricist. While some songs draw directly from his own experiences with relationships, expectations and an uncertain future, others are written from the perspective of characters and imagined situations. Books, stray observations and bits of pop culture all find their way into the writing, giving Fire From The Hip the feeling of a collection of short stories as much as a traditional singer-songwriter record.

That approach arrives at an interesting point in Wolfhard’s life. After spending much of his adolescence known around the world as Mike Wheeler on Stranger Things, he’s entering adulthood with considerably greater control over the work he chooses to make. Music offers a particularly direct outlet for that independence, with Wolfhard writing, recording and performing material that belongs entirely to him.

Fire From The Hip captures an artist still figuring out exactly where he wants to go, and enjoying the freedom that comes with not having to choose a single direction. Wolfhard’s love of records from previous generations remains easy to hear, but the personality holding all those influences together is increasingly his own.