Artist: Skalman
Title: STATIC / RUSH
Label: death by dagger

STATIC / RUSH is a two track single of UK garage leaning bass music, out since 14 August on death by dagger. Skalman works out of Utrecht, and the name is a fairly recent development. The Skalman account opened on this same label at the start of 2025 with Yallop.

The label deserves a word of its own. death by dagger runs as a record label and a visual art collective at the same time, throwing its own label parties at ACU in Utrecht and treating the artwork as part of the job rather than something bolted on afterwards. This release carries that through: the sleeve is credited to Teri Lois and Lotte Hoffer, with George Oldroyd handling the master.

The run so far is short but moving quickly. Last November brought the softshell EP, four tracks taking in UK bass, garage and breaks with a Latin streak underneath, and he has since turned up at Best Kept Secret, on NAR and on Open Source Radio. This one keeps things lean at two cuts, STATIC and RUSH; both lean heavily into UKG territory.

Out now on death by dagger, and you can pick it up over on Bandcamp.