Coals — the duo of Kacha and Lucassi — quickly gained recognition thanks to their homemade recordings shared on YouTube a few years back. Since then, they have performed at numerous international festivals, including Positivus, Pohoda, Metronome Prague, MENT Ljubljana, Eurosonic, Primavera Sound, and Iceland Airwaves. Notably, during their stay in Reykjavik, Coals recorded a live session for the legendary KEXP radio at Kex Hostel. In Poland, they’ve graced the stages of major festivals such as Open’er, OFF, and Fest Festival.
Their debut album Tamagotchi (2017) drew inspiration from hauntology and glitch aesthetics. Coals are known for their genre-blending sound — incorporating elements of dream pop, art pop, chillwave, ambient pop, cloud rap, and R&B — while avoiding rigid classification. They describe their own style simply as cold pop.
In 2019, they released Klan, a dreamy, trap-leaning, and experimental EP written entirely in Polish. Featuring collaborators from the Polish scene such as schafter, it marked a significant stylistic shift while bringing in a new wave of listeners.
Coals also take a hands-on approach to the visual side of their work, often directing their own music videos and producing photo shoots.
Their second full-length album docusoap (2020), released via PIAS, drew from alt-R&B, ambient, and the aesthetics of the ASMR trend. It featured intricate vocal processing and a hypnotic atmosphere, with British producer felicita (of PC Music) as the album’s sole guest. Docusoap earned the duo nominations for the Fryderyk Awards and Empik Bestsellers, and was widely praised — with Newonce calling it “one of those all killer, no filler records — a reference point for retrofuturistic pop that Poland hasn’t seen before and perhaps won’t for a long time.”
In 2022, Coals released Rewal, an intentionally lighter EP that blends trap and dream pop across six tracks, evoking a tropical yet subtly eerie and mysterious holiday vibe.
In 2023, the duo offered an imaginative rework of Brodka and 2K88’s track “Taka to zima”, turning it into something that sounded entirely their own.
Their most recent album, Sanatorium, was released on March 22, 2024, again via PIAS. As Piotr Chęciński wrote:
“The duo managed to create a cohesive and captivating universe, combining seemingly distant worlds into one organism. Hauntological futurism, nostalgic excitement — I feel it all at once. At the same time, the album is incredibly catchy, full of memorable phrases and melodies that stick with you.”
Sanatorium was widely acclaimed by both critics and fans. It was named Album of the Year in a poll of 23 music journalists by Gazeta Wyborcza, and also received top honors from Polskie Radio Trójka, Radio LUZ, Newonce, and nowamuzyka.pl.
Known for their unique live performances, Coals create an immersive experience where wild dancing collides with melancholy and serenity — always with a strong visual identity at the heart of it.