The Best New Garage Labels of 2025
NUKG Monthly is Nathan Evans' UK garage and club music column. This edition gets to know the five best garage labels that have opened doors this year, from the UK to Netherlands, Texas and Finland.
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There’s a joy in discovering a fresh label, just as they find their feet. They start with a concept, but they haven’t yet become codified enough to expect a certain release or sound. And yet, there have been five labels making UK garage whose nascent catalogues possess immense track quality that has spurred me to seek them out in search of answers. This took me from the capital to Texas, from the Midlands to the Netherlands, and even all the way to the edge of the Arctic Circle.
Along the way, I learned that some labels are a home for local talent, while others elect to support across oceans, and that among the leading UKG outfits, ec2a and Hardline are two of the most influential, as well as Hessle Audio. Not every label is made to be an institution like those three, but these five labels are already going sith mode in their own ways. In no particular order:
Move Silent
Founded by Birmingham producer Herb, Move Silent has come across your feed if you’ve been following the output of THIRTZY, Merker, Muckaniks and Ewan Laurie, to name a few. Most of these names reside near Herb in Birmingham, causing the label to join the likes of Pressure Point Audio in continuing Birmingham’s rich history of garage. But more than that, it’s Herb’s passion project after years pursuing a fashion label of his own and wanting a brand with more substance.
With vinyl-and-digital series title MOVE and GROOVE, the label balances light and dark with concise curation, running the gamut from warpy speed garage to classical 2step, to tracks like THIRTZY’s VIP mix of “DEM BOW”, whose taut yet punchy strut can only be found on Introspekt’s Bandcamp. All of it is tied together with a lacquer-rich aesthetic, topped off with gorgeous silhouette artwork that evokes its name.
Let’s take it back to the beginning, where did it start for you and UK garage?
I’ve been a DJ now for about seven or eight years. When I started, I was into lo-fi house. Early Mall Grab was probably where my musical inspiration began, as well as early Interplanetary Criminal and Soundbwoy Killa. Algorithms weren’t as complex back then, so when I went on YouTube deep dives, there were all sorts of sounds. I went through various genres - you wouldn’t believe it, but I even DJ’d ghetto tech and techno for a bit.
Going through this variety of genres, I found that what I enjoyed most was the swung drums and heavy basses and interesting rhythms of garage. Around the time when Covid lockdowns lifted, I went to a warehouse rave in Cambridge, and there was Interplanetary Criminal, Main Phase, Cosworth, Frazer Ray and all of them, and seeing them live spurred me to get into the production of similar music.
What was the spark that led to Move Silent?
Since I was about 15/16, I had a real interest in streetwear, and I had my own clothing brand that did quite well. I was really enjoying manufacturing and selling them, but I realised that it didn’t feel authentic, it didn’t have the substance that I wanted it to have. I couldn’t see a fulfilling long-term progression with it. So I put that to the side and invested all my time into DJing and production.
I spent four or five years producing under the radar, with no social media. Then, when I started releasing as myself this year, within the first couple of months it started to do alright. Me and THIRTZY had a couple of collab tunes - the “PREJUDICE DUB” and “DEM BOW VIP” - and didn’t know what to do with them. He pushed me to make it a label, and I have all this experience in the past of running a brand, so that’s where Move Silent began.
Where does the name come from?
This is really giving up the secret. Years ago, I had this t-shirt that sold really well, and had the phrase “Move Silent”. It embodies how I operate in life. I’m a big believer in the phrase, “empty vessels make the loudest noises”. Being an artist, your first port of call is to make good stuff that will speak for itself. I actually struggled with the thought of having this interview because of the idea of moving silent and then going on an interview. But it’s a bit different to, say, going online and exposing my life.
Being from Birmingham, it’s a great place to be when it comes to UK garage history.
The label is an extension of myself, so wherever I go, it’s based there. But yeah, it’s a very rich history. I was talking with THIRTZY about this recently. How can we reinvigorate the scene in Birmingham? Because it’s not declined, but is maybe on hiatus when it comes to the garage sound. I would relish the opportunity to bring some of that back to the West Midlands.
What labels do you look at for inspiration?
I think in the UK, you’d be a fool not to look at ec2a and Hardline. But a lot of inspiration for the aesthetic of the label comes from Ilian Tape. Skee Mask is phenomenal, and he directed me to Ilian Tape, and I thought their art design was so cool, everything felt right. If you look at their older white label stuff, you can kind of see some of the seeds of where we take the art direction from.
The two-track format, I stole from Hessle. I’m not against 4-5 track releases, and it’s horrible to think this way, but in today’s algorithmic age, [it’s more tactical]. Plus, I always thought it made more sense to put out one or two really good things that get people’s attention.
Early ec2a dubplates are another source, but as I’m sure you’re aware, it’s very hard to get dubplates - especially for low quantity releases. Fortunately, I found a fantastic supplier from the Midlands. Shoutout Dean at Compound Audio - Dapz, you’re fantastic! When I got the dubplates, I thought about how I could make them totally unique. And so, there’s an extra layer of limited editions where some are spray-painted with the artwork rather than stamped. I used to do them all that way, but it took so long to do!
What do you think about the state of UK garage right now?
I think it depends on whether you view the scene as what you see online or what you can experience in person. If you see everything on Instagram, I’m not a fan of the direction, but I think that’s how clubbing is going in general. I wouldn’t make such a fuss on the DJ. There are some fantastic personalities that add to the night, but I always had my best night when I was with friends, couldn’t really see the DJ, the music was hella loud, and you were having a good time. That move towards a spectacle isn’t great, but you can’t be an old man yelling at a cloud. You have to accept that that’s how clubbing is these days. You have to incorporate that into your work if you want to succeed. I hate that when I DJ now, I have to think about how it’s perceived rather than just playing the music, that’s the nature of the game.
What have you got planned for 2026?
I don’t even know about 2026… I know what’s coming for the end of this year. I’ve got an EP of mine coming out this Friday, and next week there might be another Move Silent release. GROOVE002 could be a very special release. MOVE005 could be coming out before the end of the year. In terms of 2026, I’d love to do the first Move Silent event in Birmingham.
Really, I just wanna keep putting out good music. I do have a big list of people I wanna get on the label. I’m really fortunate that MOVE005 is towards the top of that list.
Shadow System
Breaking of the rules of the list, somewhat, as this label started in 2021, but since getting the ball rolling in the second half of 2024, London label Shadow System have courted nuggets of clean, weighty dub-thick 2step that’s made for soundsystems with just the right amount of crud. Founded by regular B2B partners BLUOS and KONCIOUS, Shadow System’s releases crunch and swell with dark atmosphere-building, yet are sober enough not to let the kick of the low-end be masked.
Visually, they tread the well-worn path of cartoon characters on a disc, only added with culture-connected details: Numbah 1 from Codename: Kids Next Door holding a dubplate or the titular little imp from Dexter’s Laboratory holding spray cans. These directly engage with the tropes that clothing brands such as Lot29 and Iceberg History birthed in the underground, where too many new faces are quick to use it because it’s the done thing.
Sonically, it’s the same story. It shouldn’t take until the Benny Ill-esque Baltimore club breakdown on Masot’s self-aware “Too Dark In Here” to let you know that dubstep is a massive undercurrent, particularly the proto-dubstep sound that the likes of Introspekt and gum.mp3 & Swami Sound have found themselves drawn back to this year. London’s history of post-garage mutations (dubstep, grime, broken beat) is made clear through this label, but what’s most impressive is how their international roster - Masot and Hitch.93 from Chile, Kelenful from Japan - also pay their dues.
How did your relationship with UK garage begin?
B: I’ve been listening to garage for a very long time now, especially when it transitioned from the US to the UK, mainly from my dad playing it.
K: The age we are, we weren’t around for the big rave culture when it was big, so it was a lot of olders. My cousins were showing me Groove Chronicles, Wookie, these types of producers from early. This was in secondary school and I was listening to a lot of grime, so my cousins were like, ‘these are the forefathers of what you’re listening to.’
B: He was more of the UK side, I was more the US side, Van Helden, that “Spin Spin Sugar” era of speed garage side of things. Then when it became darker, there was Groove Chronicles, Antonio, it reminds me of garage that was a bit more cruddy. So when we show each other tracks, it’s like, ‘oh, I ain’t heard of that’. It’s a cross between the light and the dark.
K: BLUOS’ dad used to be a DJ, so his knowledge was extensive. So I had my cousins showing me the forefathers and BLUOS showing me the forefathers of that. Every time we linked up it was educational.
B: We went to school together, so we go back to 2004, so it’s a long, long time of knowing each other. We collected tunes we shared between each other, we’d always Bluetooth each other. Sometimes you may have to pay a little pound to get the tune [laughs].
What was the origin point of Shadow System?
B: We started a show in 2018, on Don City Radio in Hackney Wick, that was me and KONSCIOUS going back-to-back on deep dubstep. We ended up deciding on Shadow System [as a name]: Shadow being the darker side of the genre, and System was an ode to soundsystem culture.
K: We both went to uni to study audio engineering, then Covid hit. So all of our lectures was over Zoom. As we were producing music in Covid, we went back to the roots of what we were listening to, and sharing this music again. I did my dissertation on the timeline of garage leading into garage and dubstep, so that gave me a history lesson on where it started. Gradually, our productions started going that kind of way. The artwork draws from old school London culture: Iceberg, Looney Tunes, Block29, pirate radio buildings… the dark image of those things, it all ties together.
B: KONSCIOUS’ first release on Shadow System, which wasn’t officially Shadow System at the time, was Soul Kitchen Vol. 1, which was cold, easy-listening, soulful dubstep. We went from Don City radio to gunfingers and basslines, but that’s when our sound started to soften a little bit.
K: The sound was also influenced by Chord Marauders, which we discovered just before uni. We stumbled upon a project series they did called Groovy Booty. When we heard it, our sounds synced up, and that had a lot of influence on our production, in its soulful sound.
B: Dubstep at the time was a lot of heavy, dark sounds with synths, but Chord Marauders’ side was very subtle. I was DJing a lot of house and techno, while KONSCIOUS was mixing a lot of dubstep and grime, so we couldn’t do B2Bs with each other. We were doing them every week, it’s what we did, but he played a tune from it and my ears perked up. From there, our collection was focused on that soft instrumentation-type dubstep. It wasn’t just crud, it was soulful crud.
How has it been to get other artists on board with the label?
K: When the label started, we made it from our own perception of garage music. Originally, the swing didn’t fit anywhere, so we made our own platform. When we put our own stuff out, people gravitated towards that and started making a similar sound, and it just started growing from there.
You’ve brought in a really far-reaching set of producers to the label, from Chile to Japan. Is that intentional to make it a worldwide label?
K: I wouldn’t say it’s intentional, but we dig on the internet. So these people are hugely talented and on the come-up, and they fit our sound so well. It’s always just about the music. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, how many followers you have or what’s attached to your name, if you fit our sound, that’s it.
B: UK garage isn’t UK garage. Obviously we have our influences, but when we heard music from someone like Kelenful from Japan… he’s nailed it as if he’s from here. He knows the culture, the traditions, the foundations of where it’s come from.
K: That’s the beautiful thing about it. Some artists, we don’t even speak the same language, but we speak this language, you know what I mean? We connect through this particular sound.
Are there any other labels you look to for inspiration, aside from Chord Marauders?
B: Juan Forte was a quality packaged label, and they were quite a big inspiration for us.
What do you think about the state of UK garage right now?
K: It’s quiet for dark UKG at the moment, and the style we’re making, which is why it’s important to hold a corner. Big up Bakey, of course there’s names, but it’s quieter.
How would you sum up 2025 for Shadow System?
B: We’ve had a lot of recognition from people in the scene that we look up to. We had our first event this year, and it was nice to have two or three people who we’ve released with just chatting with each other. We’re in our own little bubble making our stuff, we do what we do, but it’s nice to get some recognition.
K: Seeing a physical manifestation of things makes you think about what you’re actually doing. You get likes on socials, but when people come up to you like, ‘you guys are doing great stuff’, it’s nice to have some sort of pull outside of the internet.
What’s in store for 2026?
K: Establishing ourselves as DJs, artists and producers, because that’s what we started this all for! We’re talented producers as well!
B: We’re still going to be collaborating between artists, like our next project with Warlord that’s our last project for 2025. Kelenful is on the remix for that one, and we want people within the label to be working with each other, building the system up a bit. Plus, more physical stuff, more vinyl, more merch and more live shows.
Posh Defects
Posh Defects is a sublabel of Amsterdam label Swap Shop, founded and seemingly masterminded (tracks included) by Frits Wentink and Malin Genie. Its first release was by DJ Debug, claimed as “Unearthed from the vaults” but could well be a front by the two founders - after all, their motto is “PRESTIGE IS A LIE”. I believe that Genie and Wentink are ghost-producing under a few aliases, including DJ Dagger, DJ Headrush, Suggashock and DJ Debug. If so, they are creating some of the most inventive garage in the world right now.
Take DJ Headrush’s release, APEX WARRIOR, its title combining the two track names. The former hops in a garage house cadence, but the bass is sent into a quiet overdrive, enough to make the vocal sample tingle the eardrums in a way that I’ve not heard used in garage. “WARRIOR” lets you know that this was no accident, accentuating it further on some industrial 2step so high that the bass swirls the entire track up into a momentary mush.
AI music has been a fraught discussion this year, particularly as garage tracks like Haven’s “I Run” have found chart success with AI-generated elements. With such rigid formulas in place, UK garage could be doomed if not responded to. However, Posh Defects is indirectly providing the answer to this by doing something that AI couldn’t - break the rules. AI wouldn’t dare make such abrasive club music, but this is just one direction that producers could take to break garage’s formula.
Sadly, Posh Defects elected not to have an interview, but their catalogue has been so strong this year that they are still worth a place in the new-school pantheon.
Polar Dance
Polar Dance is comfortably the Northernmost UK garage label in the world. Founded in Oulu, Finland, a city just 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle, the label is a coalition between solo artist SomePoe and duo Winter Games. Between them, they have amassed a steady once-a-month stream of heartfelt speed garage and hard house garage, the kind that reminds me of the initial hype of the initial speed garage revival a few years ago. It’s nice seeing the excitement coming from this faraway place, and it’s hard not to lean into obvious cliches - the synth pads on Somepoe’s “Number 1 Sound” feel like Christmas.
However, the trio behind the Lapland label are no newcomers. They’ve been fascinated by UK bass music since the FWD>> days, and even organised successful bass and UK funky events in their city, but they still maintain the same wide-eyed fire as a producer who’s just got into the genre.
As we discuss their long-standing relationship with UK club culture, their relative remoteness is never out of view. When Somepoe and Esa of Winter Games speak with me, the latter joins me while driving through the most Scandinavian road you can imagine: barren, white and flanked with pine trees.
How did you relationship with UK garage begin?
S: When I turned 18, I was making music with Esa and really vibing to loads of UK bass music. We started to organise our own club nights here in Oulu, this was about 2008/09. Dubstep was in a really interesting place at the time, but we were also vibing to garage, grime, UK funky as well. Those kind of sounds worked really well in Oulu, and we did our monthly club night on a Thursday night called ‘Fire in the City’ where we booked many UK artists like Lil Silva and Mensa.
E: In 2009, we went to FWD>>, which was a crazy moment in our musical journey. Then in 2015/16, I got back into garage from watching People Just Do Nothing. That’s when we started making garage, and we thought it was going to be massive. People were looking at us like, ‘are you serious?’ but then the garage sound started to bloom once again.
S: It’s funny he mentions People Just Do Nothing, because when we released our first tune under Polar Dance, it was Decoy (Danny Rankin) that played it on his Rinse show.
Tell me about your home city, Oulu.
E: Oulu is the biggest city in the North. Me and Topi were born and raised there, so we were raised in that club culture that rose there.
S: When we did the Thursday club night, we had hundreds of people inside, even queues to get in to see UK bass music. A big event is the Frozen People festival which takes place on sea ice in February. I think that shows the mentality of the club culture here, that we can do electronic music events on these big natural phenomena.
I wonder where this love of UK club culture came from?
E: Even though UK garage, UK bass and UK funky have ‘UK’ in the name, it’s kind of universal. We've found ourselves as part of a scene that’s born in the UK and is influenced by many parts of the world, we do something here and bounce it back. Now that we have Polar Dance, it gives us the opportunity to release the music of the North and give an audience to the things we love. We really want to bring our voice into the conversation of UK bass.
S: In Oulu, [the crowds are more used to] harder music like rock and metal, so maybe there’s some kind of dark frequency that feels at home in the part of the world.
Did you come into making this label with any existing labels in mind?
E: In our minds, we wanted to be like the garage labels that do things their way like ATW, Locked On, Hardline and Psyked. There’s a lot of personal labels out there, and we wanted to find how we could place ourselves on the map.
S: I’ve been looking at labels like Hessle Audio which have been consistent for a long time. The UK bass sound has changed so much, but every release sounds like Hessle. We want Polar dance to be cohesive [like Hessle].
Are there any Finnish traditions that make their way into your music?
E: One thing is that we make many of the tracks in a cabin or in remote places. Because you can do that proper locked-out [session], when you get to focus on the music. It’s the whole world. The less distractions there are, the better the music we make. In Finland, we get six months of snow a year, so the lifestyle is very different. I can only speak for myself, but I don’t go to clubs or events much. It’s less a tradition and more a way of living here in Finland, there are less distractions and you can do what you want to do.
How did you find your UK tour in the spring?
E: It was many feelings at once. We were trying to promote club nights in Manchester and London from here [turns camera around to show Finnish road], which is not easy. It was stressful, and something that anyone with any free time would put their efforts into promoting, but in the end, we were super happy we did it. It felt a very deep emotion to see it working in a place that you look up to. To play, have people dancing and asking for rewinds in London, we don’t take it for granted.
What do you think has been the biggest shift in garage in 2025?
S: I think the speed garage resurrection has been big this year, to the point where it might be oversaturated. But many subgenres of UK dance music are blending into it, so really interesting to see where it goes. I’ve been preparing tracks to release next year and it’s got more of a percussive, techno-ish vibe to it.
E: The rules of UK garage are very easy to see. I love when there are no rules, like a couple of years ago when people were playing a load of different genres without specifying what those genres were - it was just dance music.
We’ve been playing with these elements, putting them in a new environment. I’ve been cutting icicles from roofs because when you snap it off, it makes an amazing sound rhythmically. There is a traditional Finnish instrument called a kantele, which is like a sitar. I've been trying to use it on some tracks as well.
What does 2026 have in store for you?
S: More music, I’ve been working on a new direction and wondering whether I should put it on an EP or a single. We’ve been releasing evenly between Winter Games and Somepoe stuff, but we’d love to broaden the label beyond that.
E: We want to evolve it, and we’re progressing our sound all the time. This is our nest that we can put our eggs into, and I really like the idea that we can invite everyone who listens to our music into our world. Creating something unique is very important for me.
Houston's UKG
Good luck trying to get the material from this Texas-based label. Also known as ukgaragehtx, this vinyl-only venture has dropped two releases this year - both installments of their Stateside Swing series, in which four US artists fill both sides with classic garage - and they’re almost completely sold out. But for anyone who loves the labels that Houston’s UKG takes influence from - Confetti, Amigo Dubs, Freshmilk - that’s a familiar feeling.
Aside from the way they literally went back in time with a black mask and comically large knit sack and stole from the Nice ‘N’ Ripe mixing desk, what struck me about Houston’s UKG is how there is even a label pressing limited-run vintage garage vinyl at all. It speaks to shockwaves of the revival, that’s enough to traverse space and time simultaneously.
Supporting the likes of Space City resident Tanyn, who has featured in the Best Garage Tunes list before now, and my favourite newcomer of the year, the mysterious S.R, Houston’s represents the vinyl-only labels which are essentially the work of passion projects in 2025. Sadly, the margins and the risk involved make it untenable to not offer digital releases on some level. But as label founder David Loop tells me, he’s more concerned with breaking even while championing US-made classic garage and bringing the enigma value of having a piece of quality garage that belongs to only 99 other people. As it once was.
Tell me about yourself.
My name is David Loop, I’m 52, I was born in Southwest Ohio but lived in Texas since 1999. I DJ jungle under the name SDF-1. There’s two big drum and bass crews here, and we played all through the 2000s. Got into dubstep when that rose up, so we did drum & bass monthlies, dubstep monthlies. I’ve always been a mover and shaker in the scene, but one that operated on the outside of the circle. It’s always been a dream of mine to run my own record label and press records, so that’s done now.
Where does the story start for you when it comes to UK garage, how did your relationship with it begin?
I kind of intertwined with when I got into the early days of dubstep. I’ve always had a soft spot for deep house, that raw house sound. It was Tanyn, who lives in the same city, he was into garage from early on and showed me about it. I loved it, started messaging labels making dubs, and I realised that if they can do it, why can’t I? I had already been working a label called Joy House Recordings.
What labels do you look at for inspiration?
Pirate Cutz, Amigo Dubs, Freshmilk, the more underground labels. Web13. The oldies, Nice ‘n’ Ripe, Confetti. I talk to Perception sometimes.
What does 88% Swing mean on the logo?
That’s literally just the Hendrick’s Gin logo, which is 88% proof, so I put 88% swing instead.
What do you think of the state of UK garage right now?
I love it, I honestly hope people don’t evolve [laughs]. Just keep pushing and refining. Maybe it’s better that I’m outside of the whole thing because I see this limited window. It’s really difficult to keep up when it’s on social media, there’s no central place. A lot of us US guys that love this music, we look at DNR, Juno, we’ll see someone selling it on Instagram and that’s it. There’s pros and cons, and for me, more pros because I’m not saturated with it.
Dude, if I hear one more person play footwork, juke, Jersey and Baltimore stuff and they’re going from 130-180bpm in the same set, I’m gonna lose it. EVERYBODY here plays that. Because we’ve lost all our underground clubs in Houston, there are clubs where big names can come, but it’s all phones up in the air, festival vibes, and I’m not into that. I like a dark room, big heavy sound and people tipsy and don’t give a shit who’s playing, but they’re good. And that’s what counts. It’s not an entertainment show, you’re there for the music first and foremost. The atmosphere is missing here in Houston sometimes.
You mentioned Stateside Swing Vol. 3. What does 2026 have in store for the label?
I don’t plan much. But there is thoughts of a Tanyn EP, maybe a straight 2x12 or 3x12 just for him. I am talking with a collab with another label. If any US artists catch this interview, please feel free to send me some stuff. I’ll always try and champion it.