One of the best things about UK bass music culture is that it stays true to its roots. We celebrate the foundations of the culture and make sure its rich history is documented and preserved, honouring where it came from and the people it represents. At the same time, UK bass remains relentlessly innovative and forward-thinking, continually morphing and giving rise to countless subcultures.
So, while we’ve spent this week looking back on the joys of 2025, today we turn our attention to the future, spotlighting our ones to watch for 2026.
T-Lex
Amanda Ross
T-Lex has been making her presence felt for some time now, but this year she has truly taken it to the next level. From smashing her front-to-front set with Logan D this summer, Boomtown and Let It Roll, there is clearly no stopping the T-Lex energy. Beyond dominating live shows, 2025 saw the Bristol-based producer deliver a string of standout releases like ‘On Top’ with Deep Notion for Elevate Records, as well as the hard-hitting single ‘GTFO’ and ‘No Answer’ on Basslayerz Recordings. Killing it on both the DJing and production front, it’s clear T-Lex is on top and poised to take over 2026, crafting relentlessly filthy jump-up that keeps the dancefloor moving.
Surreal
Sam Yates
He’s part of the next cohort of liquid drum & bass producers that are bringing so much excitement to the sub-genre. In a SWU FM show last Christmas, Zero T dubbed him as part of his personal category of ‘the liquid boys’ alongside Channell, Motiv, Note, and Zar – great company, from a great tastemaker.
Coming from Germany, land of all things hard, fast, and clinical – Surreal brings quite the opposite, with a lush and positive buzz pulsing through each production. It’s modern liquid funk. For a flavour, check out ‘Get Down’ on Fokuz, ‘Let Me Know’ on Liquid V, or ‘Like You Should’ on Jazzsticks alongside Motiv. With a growing catalogue and rapidly developing level of production, the potential for Surreal to blow up feels more inevitable by the day.
Jaz Imsky
Ant Mulholland
Exciting DJ and producer Jaz Imsky is certainly one to keep an eye on in 2026. A DJ who touches upon multiple electronic genres, she seems to have found some real momentum as a producer within dubstep currently. Her flurry of popular SoundCloud releases this year include ‘FM Allstars’, ‘Yin & Yang’ and ‘I Luv U’ which has seen her raw 140 sound become a craze amongst dubstep DJs within the circuit. With new music on the way, including a much anticipated EP things are looking even more thrilling for this young and forward-thinking producer. Notable landmarks for the year have included a guestmix on BBC Radio 1xtra where she joined Sir Spyro, appearances on Rinse FM and a residency on Reprezent – the Singapore-born artist has undeniably been one to talk about throughout 2025. Top draw performances at notable places like Boomtown, Outlook, Village Underground and Gemfest has meant the scene can expect some even bigger landmarks in the new year.
Kade
Lennart Hoffman
Rarely has a new face on the scene sported as polished a sound as Austrian newcomer Kade has in this past year. Since embarking on this musical journey in 2020, local ravers already witnessed him spinning some mad tunes all over the country, from Nova in Sattledt to the legendary Grelle Forelle in his home base of Vienna, and if they were particularly devoted, they might have even checked out some of his bootleg work back in the day, but Kade had higher ambitions – way higher. Soaking up knowledge from the Patreons of IMANU and Phace, and regularly participating in Tom Finster‘s and barking continues‘ WeAreHumans feedback streams, his productions became more and more refined, and earlier this year, it was finally time to share them with the world.
After debuting with the exquisitely stabby cinematic masterpiece that is ‘Glorp Business’, part of the legendary Glorp movement set in motion by a particularly squelchy demo in the WeAreHumans community, Kade went on to rework John Summit‘s newest anthem ‘Light Years’ – and that’s about it for now! If the absurdly massive IDs he played at Vienna’s Donauinselfest or his numerous, wildly huge demo submissions in said producer communities are anything to go by though, we can expect some true nuggets of greatness in the years to come. You just wait and see!
Des McMahon
Amanda Ross
US talent Des McMahon is making some serious moves. Carving out a name for himself on the darker, more technical side of D&B, he continues to hold his place within the wider dancefloor soundscape. Locked in throughout 2025, we saw ‘Propane’ his first release for René LaVice’s DeVice Recordings, alongside another standout track on Prestige Music Group — ‘Ruminate’ featuring Phayla — which showcases his versatility as an artist. Des continues to shine and is definitely one to keep on your radar for 2026.
Automatic
Sam Yates
With just four signed tracks to his name, and tucked away in New Zealand, Automatic flies under the radar. Each of the four come via. the ‘Art Werk’ series on Soul In Motion, and it sounds like label boss Need For Mirrors has unearthed another hidden gem who absolutely nails the less-is-more school of drum & bass.
‘Webs’ was the first to appear – with a repetitive, infectious groove laid over a two-step beat. So simple. So restrained. Yet every pulse becomes more addictive than the last. The other three tracks follow a similar construction, further showcasing his ability to hypnotise. ‘Peach’ takes the cake as a 2025 favourite – a progressive, acidic bassline with a medley of details if you listen in close. Minimal heads, watch out for more of Automatic’s brand of precision-funk in 2026.
VXRGO
Ant Mulholland
This South London artist has had a notable 2025. Her operation of jungle and old skool drum & bass has heralded her as one of the best up-and-coming jungle artists within an ever-growing new generation of DJs and producers coming through the ranks. Her dark, soulful and technical sets undeniably stand out whenever she’s graced the dance, playing at some of the best raves around over the last 12 months. These include Boomtown, Outlook, Fabric, Bangface and Jazz Cafe. Furthermore, with shows in Europe. Now boasting a debut EP of the self released ‘Borough Breaks’ doing the rounds earlier in the year, as well as the highly-rated ‘Luv 4 U’ released on Hooversound Recordings it’s additionally been a successful start to life as a fully fledged producer. Marking her 2 years with a show on Kool FM this year, the anticipation for what is to come in 2026 for VXRGO is there for all to see.
Soldat
Lennart Hoffman
It’s no secret that Oceania at large is a treasure trove of up-and-coming talent all across the drum & bass aisle, so allow me to introduce to you one of the perhaps lesser known, yet all the more exciting names from this haystack: Gerald Lecaros, also known as Soldat. With legends like Friction and A.M.C inspiring his pursuit of scattiness on the decks, and studio wizards Sub Focus and Culture Shock guiding him in his early production journey, the Australian talent set sail into this wildly thrashing storm that we call our scene at the turn of the decade.
Quickly finding success in both the former, be it by winning Stellar Audio’s mix competition, providing endlessly entertaining DJing reels for the masses or showing off his frankly preposterous mixing skills in support of too many names to list, and the latter, with his 2021 bootleg of Nero‘s ‘Innocence’ making the journey halfway across the planet onto BBC Radio 1, the Soldat project already made waves before Gerald even crossed over into his 20s – and things have only gotten crazier since then. Draped in his instantly iconic Japanese Y2K nostalgia aesthetic, he not only served us plenty of outrageous dub packs and dancefloor-igniting bootlegs, from 2024 on his creations, solo or in collaboration with streetflicker, Loboski, or B.O.M, also found their way onto labels like Eighty-Six, Riot Records, onesevenfour and Wobbles & Waffles, earning himself support by the likes of K Motionz, Grafix, and even his DJ inspiration Friction. Whether it’s stomach-churning Jump Up, PlayStation 1 inspired jungle, or summery Dancefloor, Soldat can do it all, and I’m sure his 2026 is going to be one for the books.
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