“Lose My Number” by Joe Bermudez and Louise Carver

Joe Bermudez and Louise Carver simply do not have time for the sonic filler that a lot of their closest rivals on the mainstream side of the dial would contend with in their new collaborative single “Lose My Number.” To be perfectly honest, the pair don’t have much room for anything other than purely muscular EDM of the sharpest variety in this track. Whether Carver is working the beat with a sophisticated rhyme or Bermudez is strutting behind the verses as though he were rattling off the final pulsating messages to a crowd just before last call, this duo is as cool, calm, and collected as a pair can be within the four walls of a studio here, forcing anyone listening to “Lose My Number” to experience their shared game at its most humble. 

Melodic EDM featuring a strong vocal has been just about anywhere and everywhere you look and listen in the last year, but in this single, stone-cold, anti-conventional rhythm is the order of the day. There’s a lot of angst-ridden energy in Bermudez and Carver’s performance, but I wouldn’t say that they’re channeling a Kraftwerk-type introspectiveness as a result. The casual prose Carver utilizes at the mic lends a lot of additional agency to the narrative that wouldn’t have been present with a different flow, and something tells me they selected their style of presentation for this specific reason. 

More bass toward the end of this track definitely would have spiked the thrill that comes with running into the conclusion of a powerhouse EDM number head-on, but I like that Bermudez and Carver went a slightly less predictable route here. As I alluded to before, urgency is a big component of their modus operandi when it comes to structuring a mood in this single, and in steering clear of the obvious – acrylic basslines and window-shaking beats – they can turn “Lose My Number” into a certified indie hit without overstating its theme. 

I wasn’t at all familiar with the music of either Louise Carver or Joe Bermudez before I was referred to this recent studio recording at the behest of a wise industry insider, but I get what the buzz surrounding their new work is all about now. “Lose My Number” has an aggressive pop element to its construction that I can’t get enough of in contemporary EDM, and if it were to be expanded upon in a more freeform, somewhat psychedelic capacity, I believe this collaborative project could cover a lot of ground among the college radio crowd in 2022. They’ve got a lot going for them here, and I cannot wait to hear what this pairing does with their talent next. 

Mindy McCall