Cornwell recorded his first studio album away from the group, Nosferatu, in collaboration with the Captain Beefheart's Magic Band's drummer, Robert Williams, in 1979.

Footprints in the Desert released in 2002 is Cornwell's second "lost album" and compiles rare and unreleased tracks from the mid-1990s, that were not part of a record deal.

In June 2008, Cornwell followed in the footsteps of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails by initially offering his new album, Hooverdam, as a free download on his website.

[7] Blueprint was described as "an engrossing film that borrows from [Jean-Luc] Godard's Sympathy for the Devil and [Norman] Jewison's The Thomas Crown Affair".

[8] The studio album Totem and Taboo followed in 2012; engineered and mixed by Steve Albini, it was described as "Cornwell's finest and most unashamedly epic moment since the punk era".

[9] Prior to a Scottish tour that year The Herald wrote "The album yields its eloquent lyrical strengths on repeated listenings: stand-out tracks include the evocative 'A Street Called Carroll', 'Love Me Slender', 'I Want One of Those', a commentary on consumerism, and, unquestionably best of all, the atmospheric, nine minute noir epic, 'In the Dead of Night', which should become a live favourite.

Cornwell's forthcoming tour sees him play the new album and the Stranglers' landmark 1977 record, No More Heroes, but Totem and Taboo is strong enough on its own.

"[10] A review on the Witchdoctor.co.nz website stated that "In a world or egotistic over-achieving and slack-arse under-achieving, Hugh Cornwell knows how to play it just right, and Totem & Taboo is a master class in sticking to your guns and doing what you do well".

[11] In 2016, Cornwell collaborated with performance poet John Cooper Clarke to create the album This Time It's Personal, a collection of classic American and British pop songs from their youth.

On this album, Cornwell sang about Evel Knievel, Lou Reed, Hedy Lamarr, Benito Mussolini, Phil Silvers and many more.

[citation needed] Cornwell hosts Mr Demille FM, a podcast that takes his passion for film and explores it through interviews and episodes on careers and themes.