SYSTEM

Description

If Izzy Hagerup's new album, 'System', seems immediately uncompromising, it's because it was never really designed for public consumption. Released under her pseudonym Prewn, Hagerup describes the album as a "private journal made public." Told through nine striking new songs, the album narrates a deeply personal journey through the darkness of depression, yet is always undercut by moments of humor, selfishness, and introspection, a back-and-forth that feels distinctly unique. Following the 2023 album 'Through The Window' — a collection of songs that Pitchfork praised as a "striking example of Hagerup's ability to sit with ugliness" — 'System' sees Hagerup crawling even deeper into the dense folds of night. Written and recorded solely by Hagerup, often during long bedroom sessions that had her working until the early morning until she began to hear the birds singing, the album reflects many thoughts that tend to sting at that hour of the night; guilt, shame, and egotism, as well as the societal pressures that give rise to such things. From a bedroom floor in the middle of the night, through a tangle of cables and complex emotions, 'System' has become a document of dissociation, yet it is undercut by a sense of lightness compared to what came before. It does not yield to darkness; it dives into it with a keen and exploratory eye and, through the darkness, finds constant realizations of wonder and appreciation for life. This journey carries a particular power. There is bravery in it, a struggle that never asks you to look away, but rather to follow it down the rabbit hole. The fact that it leads to a place of fascination speaks to the pure strength of these songs; songs of pain and heart, of fear and pleasure.