System LP

Izzy Hagerup made System, her second album as Prewn, almost entirely alone, playing guitar, cello and everything else herself for Exploding in Sound, following 2023's Through the Window. She's called the nine tracks basically her demos from the last four years, less a produced statement than a diary of her mid-20s spent working through emotional repression, codependence and people-pleasing. Critics keep reaching for the Pixies and PJ Harvey to describe the cello-streaked sound, which is close enough, though neither of them ever sounded quite this alone in a room.