Playground magazine

HOTFLUSH TWO (HFT012, 12” + digital)


The press release included with the debut 12” by George FitzGerald –a new talent from London, who until now has been known through the Man Make Music collective, identifies “The Let Down” as a clear sonic example of the “post-Hyph Mngo” era. I couldn’t be more honest: it is pretty evident at first listening that the track is a variation on the sonic premise of the biggest Joy Orbison hit, which Hotflush doesn’t bother to disguise. What I mean is, they admit they are going to exploit this aesthetic line all they can because they are predicting it will become a solid commercial outlet. In a another words, it is emotional post-dubstep that features the vocal sparks of a garage diva and almost 3x4 rhythms that come closer to house than breakbeat, decorated with a high density helium-loaded atmosphere that by the same token, agrees with the fact that “Hyph Mngo” is arguably the ultimate electronic track of the past decade. George FitzGerald has great talent as a producer, there’s no doubt about it. Both “The Let Down” and the flip side, “Weakness” are capable of arousing your flesh. But both pieces are clearly inspired too much by the master they admire so much and from whom they can’t visualise themselves as separate from. George FitzGerald will grow, anyway, as he is destined to: in the same way that Pangaea – a Burial imitator by numbers on his first two EPs– knew how to separate himself in the end from the shadow of his master, so FitzGerald will do too. These two sweet marvels reveal enough talent for us to deposit our trust in him.

Claude T. Hill

George FitzGerald - The Let Down / Weakness [HFT012] by Hotflush