Finn Wolfhard – the Stranger Things star who fronted the Vancouver band Calpurnia and formed The Aubreys during the band – has announced his debut solo album. Happy Birthday is set for release on June 6 via AWAL. It’s led by the jangly and fuzzed-out ‘Choose the latter’, which you can hear below.
Though it spans nine songs, Happy Birthday came out of a personal challenge to write 50 songs by the end of 2022. “I ended up writing a lot of terrible stuff, but a few of those songs I was really proud of went to the Aubreys,” Wolfhard shared in a press release. “I started realizing a general theme in a lot of the other songs involving my identity, anxieties, nostalgia, childhood and loneliness. All of that was a part of a bigger puzzle. I knew I wanted to make a record, but I didn’t know with which songs.”
“Music for me has always been something that I can control,” Wolfhard added. “And while I’m really grateful for acting and for a long time, it really provided me that peace, it’s just a different thing now that I’m an adult and that it’s a career. I still enjoy it a lot, but when I am by myself and get to play guitar and write a song, it’s a different kind of feeling I’m after.”
Oh, and that press photo? It’s taken by Gep Repasky of the band Lunar Vacation; last year, Wolfhard starred in the music video for their song ‘Set the Stage’.
Happy Birthday Cover Artwork:
Happy Birthday Tracklist:
1. Happy Birthday
2. Choose the latter
3. Eat
4. Objection!
5. Everytown there’s a darling
6. Trailers after dark
7. Crown
8. You
9. Wait
