"Doesn't Really Matter" is a peculiar beast—part glam rock sermon, part philosophical tantrum, and entirely committed to its own magnificent absurdity. The Saint-Étienne-spawned duo, comprising the enigmatic Le Baron—a kilt-wearing songwriter who splits his time between Scottish highlands and French stages—and the explosively talented Freddy Kroegher, have crafted something that sits comfortably between the surreal poetry of early Syd Barrett and the camp theatrics of T. Rex, yet manages to feel genuinely contemporary in its millennial malaise.
The track opens with Le Baron's haunting confession: "I feel so strange this morning as in a deep empty space / I look at myself in the mirror but it doesn't seem to be my face..." It's a lyric that could have been lifted from a Kafka fever dream, delivered with the kind of wounded vulnerability that recalls Scott Walker's more introspective moments. Yet beneath the existential posturing lies something more immediate and human—the simple bewilderment of waking up in a world that no longer makes sense.
Kroegher's production work here is particularly noteworthy. The "Tonton" (uncle) figure behind the award-winning Terrenoire's acclaimed sound, he brings a sonic sophistication that elevates what could have been mere pastiche into something genuinely affecting. Having already proven his mettle with the 2022 Victoires de la Musique winners, his ability to transmit "l'amour pour le bon son" (love for good sound) is evident in every carefully crafted layer. The arrangement swells and contracts like a living thing, allowing space for both the song's theatrical gestures and its more intimate revelations.
The accompanying video, directed entirely by Le Baron himself, deserves special mention for its commitment to analog chaos. In an age of algorithmic perfection, there's something genuinely subversive about the duo's insistence on "real humans, real animals, and real chaos." The footage feels like a fever dream shot through a kaleidoscope, with the kind of lo-fi authenticity that money simply cannot buy. The dedication to deceased bumblebees and a cat named Alpine adds a morbid poetry that perfectly complements the song's themes of impermanence and loss.
What elevates "Doesn't Really Matter" beyond mere novelty is its genuine emotional core. Yes, there's sarcasm here, and plenty of it, but it's the kind of defensive irony that comes from being too sensitive for the world, not too clever for it. When Le Baron ponders everything from "a bland cup of hot chocolate to the disappearance of a beloved duckling," he's not being randomly absurd—he's mapping the territory of a mind trying to make sense of a senseless world.
The song's refusal to provide easy answers is perhaps its greatest strength. In lesser hands, this existential questioning might have led to either nihilistic posturing or false consolation. Instead, BARON'S embrace the uncertainty, finding a kind of dark joy in the very meaninglessness they're exploring. It's the musical equivalent of laughing at a funeral—inappropriate, necessary, and somehow life-affirming.
Following their 2023 remastered album "Never Alone"—a collection that transformed their confidential "Pole Dancing Songs" into a 15-track glam rock manifesto that garnered attention from indie curators and streaming platforms across France, the UK, Canada, and the US—BARON'S have clearly found their stride. The Olympic anthem "Keep On Running" demonstrated their ability to channel ceremonial grandeur, and "Doesn't Really Matter" suggests their upcoming album will be equally ambitious. As a preview of their upcoming album "KIND AND ROUGH," "Doesn't Really Matter" suggests a band unafraid to ask the big questions while maintaining enough self-awareness to know they don't have the answers. In a musical landscape dominated by either manufactured rebellion or calculated authenticity, BARON'S offer something more valuable: genuine confusion, beautifully expressed.
This is pop music for the philosophically inclined, glam rock for the existentially exhausted. It doesn't really matter, and that's precisely why it does.
"Doesn't Really Matter" is available now on all major streaming platforms. BARON'S upcoming album "KIND AND ROUGH" is due in 2025.