NNF — Independent New Wave vol.6 — Soft Scent, Neustadt + lecture, opening

The sixth edition of the Independent New Wave is coming! This time, the center of the event will be post-punk, accompanied by visual arts, creating a space for meetings, conversations, music and painting. NNF vol. 6 will combine sound with painting and word, presenting different facets of independent creativity.

This time the event will open a meeting with journalist and music critic Rafał Księżyek, author of the book “Wave. 1984 and Polish postpunk” — stories about one of the most important moments in the history of the Polish alternative.

There will also be visual arts — the opening of the exhibition “The Language of Fire” by the painters Justyna Koziczak and Krzysztof Polaczenko will take place.

The musical part of the evening will be filled with a concert by the Prudnik band Neustadt, moving in the dark, melancholic regions of the cold wave and the Polish new wave of the 80s.

Neustadt

It was founded at the turn of 2023 and 2024 under the name Dilemat. In their sound, they refer to Polish bands such as Variété, Made in Poland or Madame, but the band is characterized by individuality, innovation and authorship. The lyrics and music are written by Paweł Skoczeń, leader of the band.

Neustadt on stage focuses on his own material, which has changed over the months in terms of the nature of the message and the emotion contained in the live performance. The band opened up to uncompromising describing reality in their own words and sounds. In March 2025, the group made available on the Internet the first EP album: “Flower and Breath”. In March of this year, the second album in the LP version was released: “Colors”, The band did not in vain in September of this year released the latest LP album: “From All Days and Nights”.

In May last year, and in 2025, the Neustadt band took part in the Wielkopolskie Rhythms of Young Jarocin, and last July won the Alternative Music Festival “Tarnogranie”. In October 2025, he entered the nationwide Festival of Young Talents in Szczecin. In September of that year he won the main prize of the Kęcki Rock Nights Competition.

Team composition:

Paweł Skoczeń-compositions, lyrics, keyboards, electric guitar, bass guitar, singing, drum machine programming.

Bartosz Gąsiorek-drums, keyboards

Szymon Sielski-bass guitar

Soft Scent

The group was founded in 2023 in the Marche region of Italy. It is made up of MissLucifer (Anna Graves) and Sara Rock (Felina Noir).

The project was born from a common desire to create music that both artists would really like to listen to. The band explores the darkwave from a contemporary perspective, combining emotional depth with modern production and an artistic vision for the future.

Inspired by 1977 post-punk and punk, classic EBM, and contemporary electronic music, Soft Scent focuses on evolution instead of nostalgia, treating darkwave as a living genre rather than a historical aesthetic.

After the release of Chimera in 2024 on French label Manic Depression Records and Polish Bat-Cave Productions, the band consolidated their position on the European dark alternative scene, touring in Italy, France, the UK, Germany, Poland, Spain and the Czech Republic.

The band's second studio album, Mother's Ruin, is due out in late 2026. It is promoted by the single “No Flowers In June” from September 21, 2026.

The concert as part of the Independent New Wave will be the last performance presenting material exclusively from the album “Chimera”. The line-up for our concert is joined on electronic drums by a long-time friend of the band Emanuele.