A year after their self-recorded debut EP, wracaj, bo ciemno return with a full-length that’s louder, messier, and far more open in both tone and direction. “Już wiem, co będziemy dzisiaj robić” pulls its title from Phineas and Ferb—a show beloved by drummer Miśka—and ends with a cover of its theme song. But this isn’t nostalgia bait. It’s more like a declaration of intent: we’re not here to play roles anymore.
The band first came together in mid-2022 as a side-project between Maury, Janek, and Piotras—each of them involved in other bands at the time.
After five or six shows, Piotras left, citing time constraints. Recording the EP started with just Maury and Janek, who brought in Miśka soon after. She had no prior band experience, and the process of teaching her the old material while writing new songs around her learning curve was challenging—but they stuck with it.
Their first show as a new lineup took place in Gdańsk: outdoors, low turnout, weird vibe. Still, it felt right.
The album includes material written just a few months ago, as well as the 2022 track “matka,” originally intended for a colder, unreleased EP. According to Maury, “building” the album wasn’t too difficult, but figuring out where to place “matka” on the tracklist took some work. From there, things started shifting. Where the EP still clung to genre labels, this album lets go. “We described ourselves as emo for practical purposes,” Maury says. “But right after the EP, we already knew—it’s not really emo.”
There’s kalimba, chimes, group vocals, and tiny details that keep the songs playful, even when the themes stem from personal heaviness. “We just want to have fun, share some cool hooks and progressions we came up with, and make some memories together,” they say, rejecting the need to sound polished or even stay in tune.
Lyrics lean into everyday observations and cultural references, often written without overthinking. “I think it’s my stupid need to share the things I am currently obsessed over,” Maury admits, referencing tracks like “czekając na godota” and “noc w lesie,” both nods to favorite works. Miśka notes that some lyrics started as simple descriptions and slowly gained metaphorical weight over time.
The band’s ethos revolves around friendship, communication, and the understanding that it’s okay to mess up. “The greatest thing is that we really are very close friends,” Janek says. Miśka adds, “Watching them support me and teach me drums makes me emotional.” That connection shows live too. “The shows are more chaotic, but it’s deliberate,” says Maury. “We’ve learned to embrace that.”
While the Warsaw scene still feels fragmented to them, the band finds inspiration and energy from the broader DIY community, especially Close Call Records, their longtime collaborators. Bands like Ametyst, Tabula Rasa, and milion lat przestępnych come up in conversation. So do non-music influences—games like Night in the Woods, books, and anime.
When asked about genre, none of them commit. “Dreamo sounds lovely,” says Miśka, “but I wouldn’t say it 100% fits us.” Maury puts it bluntly: “No idea what it is.” This new record, like the band itself, resists simple definitions. It’s a snapshot of where they are now—somewhere between inside jokes, emotional fragments, and chaotic joy.
Scroll down for the full interview where we talk about the album’s sonic turns, songwriting process, pop culture references, the Warsaw scene (or lack thereof), and why being imperfect is the whole point.
You dropped your debut album almost exactly a year after the EP—same DIY roots, same friends helping out, but the vibe feels way more open and adventurous. When did you first feel this record was taking a different turn?
[Janek] I think it’s not that it’s a different turn, but that we found out what we want to sound like.
[Maury] But when? I think at the end of the last year, maybe the beginning of this one.
There’s this sense on the album that you’ve stopped trying to fit into any genre. At what point did you let go of that “emo/indie” expectation, and did that shift happen gradually or in one sudden moment?
[Janek] Fuck, man… I don’t know, we always had an issue with describing our stuff, even in our previous band, where we didn’t know what kind of punk we wanted to do. Now the general idea was that we don’t want to do this emo or that emo, just music that we like.
[Maury] Yeah, I think right after we released our EP we already knew that it’s not really emo. We described ourselves likewise mainly for practical purposes – it’s easier to put these three letters on a gig flyer or event description and give people a general idea of what we do.
Adding kalimba, toy chimes, group vocals—there’s something playful but also unfiltered in that choice. Were those sounds part of early demos, or did they sneak in late during the sessions?
[Maury] Damn, I’m not sure. I mean, a bit? I planned some of them as I wrote the songs, but surely not all. Kalimba was a spontaneous choice, for instance. Chimes and group vocals we decided were crucial to the album months ago.
You’ve mentioned before that some tracks were written three months ago, others back in 2022. How did you approach building one cohesive record out of songs written years apart?
[Janek] Is it that cohesive? I think I really feel which songs are older. But to be fair, only one of them is from 2022, “matka.” And you can tell that it’s an old song, I think. But all of the other songs were written in the last 11 or so months.
[Maury] Yeah, “building” the album wasn’t really a problem, but deciding where to put “matka” in the tracklist was a bit challenging. Also, I don’t know why we didn’t just record it for the EP.
[Janek] We had an idea for two EPs, one with a more joyful vibe and the other more… cold? And it was supposed to be on that other EP.
I’m curious how you balance emotional honesty with the idea of “just having fun.” Was that something you actively talked about while recording, or did it just naturally bleed into the music?
[Maury] I think partly it’s a conscious choice to blend these things, but it just kind of turned out that way. I feel like it’s much easier for me to write “emotional” lyrics than a sad instrumental. And also, like you said, to balance between joy and sadness a bit. I think if we had jolly music and lyrics it would be too much.
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The title “Już wiem, co będziemy dzisiaj robić” is a nod to Phineas and Ferb, and then you go full cover mode to close the record. What does that show mean to you as a band, and why end the album with something so lighthearted?
[Janek] Misia’s special interest is Phineas and Ferb. But to be fair, no idea. It’s just a really cool name for an album, and a lot of us watched the show as kids.
[Maury] It’s a good title cause it has a nice, a bit sentimental vibe itself, and it’s like a little inside joke as well. If we were less subtle in naming it and instead called it, I don’t know, “Scooby Doo,” to jump on the nostalgia loop bandwagon, it would be artificial and not genuine.
[Janek] If someone watched the show, they get the reference. And if they didn’t, it’s still a cool title.
[Maury] Yeah, and that cover was also a last-minute idea, while we were recording group vocals in the studio. But it’s really cool. Also it’s a dream come true for Miśka.
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You’ve said that this album came out of some heavy personal moments, even if the result sounds bright and optimistic. How did you channel difficult experiences into music that doesn’t feel weighed down?
[Maury] I think I have a problem with staying on subject and writing the entire song about only one thing (with some exceptions). So most of our songs are, like you said, observations. But there’s also the idea of not thinking too much about morbid shit, which is why I feel like you can only talk about it for so long.
Lyrics-wise, you seem to write in fragments—observations, thoughts, cultural references—almost like journaling through pop culture. Does that happen deliberately, or do those layers just emerge as you write?
[Janek] We consume a lot.
[Maury] I think it’s my stupid need to share the things I am currently obsessed over with others. Also, like I said, you can’t sing about difficult things for too long, so you need some diversity, hence the references. And to go back to the previous question, how to channel those topics onto the music? I don’t know, but I feel like it’s not that difficult. It’s kind of natural.
There’s a track titled “czekając na Godota,” and another nodding to a game called “noc w lesie.” Do you think of your songs as conversation starters or just inside jokes between friends?
9. [Maury] Both of these things a bit, to be fair. But most of them are not even really inside jokes, or maybe they are, but only inside the band. I think most of our friends don’t know them that much. And the references are often hidden. I think only I know about some of them. And, again, there’s just the need to share with people the stuff we like right now, including games, movies etc.
You’ve had a pretty unusual journey as a band—starting off as a side project, reshuffling members, teaching Miśka the drums from scratch… Looking back, what do you think held you all together through the rough patches?
[Janek] So the two of us? Haha. We just liked emo a lot, and Maury had a really big need to start an emo band. I’m here to help, but it’s also a fuckton of fun, and the greatest thing is that we really are very close friends. We won’t be doing the band if it’s not fun for us.
[Miśka] I think we really connected and learnt that we don’t need to be perfect, understood that sometimes we can be tired or that we have jobs, school etc. So we need to be absolutely true to ourselves and honest. When you learn how to truly communicate in the band and you remember why you are doing all of this, then you can really become close friends – I think we did. Maury and Janek are special people to me. I trust them, I listen to them and I really care about these two guys. Watching them improve and seeing how they support me and teach me drums makes me emotional.
Your first show with Miśka was an outdoor gig in Gdańsk with a low turnout, and now you’re playing a packed second half of the year. What did that Gdańsk gig teach you about performing as a new lineup?
[Miśka] I was really nervous before my first gig because I was afraid that I would let the guys down if I made a mistake on stage. After the performance I realized I made some mistakes but Janek and Maury were smiling, we hugged and celebrated… It was so cute! I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s all about having fun with friends, playing instruments and sharing our music with other people. I still get nervous sometimes but it’s not so scary anymore.
The gig has shown me what’s the whole purpose behind being in a band.
[Maury] I think there’s a slight change in perceiving the band… It’s far more chill right now, we know we won’t always play something right, in tune, in tempo, so the shows are more chaotic, but it’s deliberate. And, paradoxically, we learned to embrace that and despite the shows being chaotic, we are cool about it. Does that make sense?
Let’s talk scenes. You’ve been vocal about Warsaw lacking a real emo or indie scene. Do you feel like that’s starting to shift now, or is it still mostly isolated pockets?
[Janek] The longer we do this band, the more great bands we discover.
[Maury] Yeah, but is there an “emo scene” in Warsaw? I don’t think so.
[Janek] There is in Maków Mazowiecki.
[Maury] I think that generally in Poland there are no scenes per se. The bands are scattered across the entire country.
Any local bands you’ve come across recently that really surprised you? Maybe someone who’s not on everyone’s radar yet but deserves to be?
[Janek] Tabula Rasa, Hung, Boheba, all of our friends from Close Call Records.
[Maury] Yeah, of course. And also Ametyst, one of the best Polish bands right now. Przeprosiny, milion lat przestępnych, nim nadejdzie jesień… and many others.
What about 2024 and 2025 more broadly—any artists, albums, or even non-music stuff that influenced you all creatively last year?
[Janek] Again – Close Call Records.
[Maury] Yeah, that’s true. Not even, like, conceptually, but their shows always give me such a boost and fuel the band, I think. When we play with them and see them live, it really gives us energy to keep going. But to be fair, 3/4 of the bands we played with had some influence on us. As to albums – last year I fell even more in love with Bomb the Music Industry! and it has been an enormous influence on our music, along with Origami Angel. But also books we’ve read, games we played (like Night in the Woods) etc.
Last time we spoke, the term “dreamo” came up as a half-joke descriptor. Do you still feel like that fits, or have you outgrown even that label now?
[Miśka] Honestly, I find it really hard to figure out what genre is wracaj bo ciemno. Dreamo sounds lovely, almost magical so I’ve got a special place in my heart for this term, but I wouldn’t say it 100% fits us. I’ve learned that we don’t have to put a label on our music, we just wanna make fun songs and watch our friends dance and sing to them.
[Maury] I think it would be unfair to describe the album as “dreamo” or even “emo.” No idea what it is. With the EP it was a nice little label because of the overly distorted guitars, vocals, reverb everywhere etc. The mixing was also a bit different, so the EP did have that dreamy quality a bit. But with the album, I don’t think so.
Would you say this new album is your way of saying, “this is who we are,” or more like “we still don’t know who we are, but here’s the best version of us right now”?
[Miśka] I love this question! I would say it’s ,,We’re having fun, this is who we are right now, but we can’t wait to discover more sounds and grow”…and honestly I looove it!
Thank you so much. The last words are yours.
Huge thanks to IDIOTEQ, Close Call Records and all of our friends and family who support us. And of course thanks to everyone who listen to our music and come to our shows.
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