This story is taken from the spring 2026 issue of Dazed, which is on sale internationally now. Order a copy of the magazine here.

Polish duo Coals, made up of Łukasz “Lucassi” Rozmysłowski and Katarzyna “Kacha” Kowalczyk, take their name from the coal-mining towns of Silesia, where they both grew up. But while their ancestors wielded pickaxes and shovels, the two instead have Ableton and reverb as their tools.

Self-described “music geeks”, Coals first met online, swapping tracks before creating together. Their early singles quickly landed them festival bookings across the country, and collaborations with Polish rappers like Żabson and Schafter have earned them a devoted following of hip-hop fans in their homeland.

It might be unexpected of a pair usually described as dream pop or billed as alternative electronic, but Coals have never sat comfortably inside one genre. Over the past decade, the pair have drifted between sounds – from hazy, melancholic pop to experimental electronics – which might explain why festival bios and streaming platform algorithms rarely agree on exactly where to place them.

But as they release their latest single “pierrot“ and continue to work on new music for 2026 – with Kacha recently collaborating on Danny L Harle’s Cerulean – the duo’s approach has crystallised into something clearer than ever. “When we first started making music, it was spontaneous, but now our approach is more conscious – we have more inspiration and more purpose”. Their previous projects, like Tamagotchi, docusoap and well-received avant-pop LP Sanatorium are soon to be joined by their upcoming album, magia.

Ahead of the release, we caught up with the duo below.

How did you first meet?

Kacha: We first met online in 2013. I discovered Łukasz’s YouTube channel because he commented on one of my covers. I wrote to him, wanting to make just one song, and I loved the ambient vibe of his music.

Łukasz: Happily, it turned out we lived in the same region of Silesia. Soon after, we met in person and worked on our first song together, “Night Train“. That led to our second song, “Weightless“, which ended up being our biggest track. Only a month after posting, we were contacted by management and started playing concerts and festivals. It was a very fast start.

How has the process of finding your sound been?

Kacha and Łukasz: When we first started making music, it was spontaneous, but now our approach is more conscious – we have more inspiration and more purpose. We are also music geeks!

Where did your name come from?

Kacha: It comes from the coal mines in our region in Poland, Silesia. Many people in our area, including our families, worked in the mines. Our original name – Baltico – was more cringey, but we stuck with Coals.

What can you tell us about your upcoming album?

Kacha and Łukasz: Our new album, magia, will be released in June. The title works on two levels. First, we feel like it really captures the sound of the record: quite oneiric, often electroacoustic. Secondly, over the past few years, because of intense crises and the dominance of transactional relationships, there’s been a strong turn toward different kinds of beliefs and astrology. For us the only real kind of magic is music and that feeling of unreality and escapism when listening to it. We want the listener to become a believer in that. The album will include several features, both from Poland and abroad. It will mainly be dream pop, indietronica, and glitch/avant-pop.

What’s the Polish music scene like?

Łukasz: I think Poland has great artists making experimental music.

Kacha: Yes, and I also follow some Polish rap, which we’ve collaborated with. At the same time, dream pop and songwriting are less developed in Poland, so that’s a space we’re helping to fill.

What are you listening to at the moment?

Kacha and Łukasz: We’re listening to a lot of Loukeman, Chanel Beads, Spanish pop like Rusia-IDK or Amore, The Cranberries, Wraith9, Maanam, Cooper B Handy, Cranes, Adam Repucha, Sophia Stel, Helen Island, ML Buch.

What’s next for 2026?

Kacha and Łukasz: We’re finishing our new album to be released in June and preparing for more concerts.

Anything else fans should know about Coals?

Kacha: Cats are a big part of our world. They’ve been with us from the start and feature in our social media.