PREWN - System

I don’t know how to move

I’m giving into the fear again

Too many people, too many rules

Are keeping me lonely in my head

A system whose gears make it remarkably easy to get stuck between the teeth. In the mare magnum of releases from the indie circuit in autumn 2025, “System” by Prewn, the moniker of Izzy Hagerup, is a small gem with an angular, abrasive indie-rock character, both for its sound, which veers toward slacker territory, and for its direct lyrics. Stylistically, the gaze looks above all to the Nineties and to the work of Fiona Apple, Free Kitten, PJ Harvey, Pixies and Elliott Smith (but not only them), while the themes touched on range across mental health and the acceptance of one's own fragility, loneliness, social pressures and processes of self-understanding.

If the debut “Through The Window” (2023) leaned more heavily on indie-folk, what emerges on the sophomore effort is a noisier, far more synthetic and dense nature. These details put the emphasis on the DIY component, to which it's worth adding that every single element and instrument present was recorded and produced by Hagerup herself, from the strings down to the drums.

The air fills with anticipation thanks to the dark bass and the flashes of violin that open “Easy”, gradually growing more and more electric, while what pervades the brief “Commotion” is a sense of paralysis and mounting inner rage sparked by the forced obligation to be what others expect, namely a people-pleaser in a clearly patriarchal framework. The peak of the record floats and sways between the deep sound of the cello, the hum of the violin, the layering and bittersweet dissonances of the vulnerable “System”, whose closing guitar riff, staying on the theme of the Nineties, sends the mind travelling back to Echobelly's hit “Dark Therapy”. The subtle tremor of the more romantic “It's Only You” acts as a brief respite before the sinister ticking of the metronome on the solemn “My Side”, the timer of a bomb ready to go off, aimed at the target of codependency within relationships.

“Forgot” gathers scattered thoughts from everyday life, before sharply hardening the tone with the guitars and synths of the more menacing, lo-fi “Dirty Dog”, which brings to mind memories of the excellent sonic youth and the like. Linked to this is the experiment with a foregrounded MIDI keyboard on “Cavity”, which winks at Water From Your Eyes, leaving the final word to “Don't Be Scared”, a closing statement that sounds like encouragement and a wish for rebirth.

The alternation of jagged textures and intimate ballads on "System" exorcises guilt, shame and internalized fears, elevating the lyrical sensibility of the Prewn project, and anyone lucky enough to catch Beaches Brew in early June will have the chance to experience all of this live.

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27/05/2026