You can always count on Mary Strand to be the voice of reason, or at least, in the case of her new single, the voice that counters all those stupid attitudes and arguments with one very astute and succinct titular observation – “Does Any of This Really Matter?”
She has a point; all that racing to keep up with food fads and fashion trends, societal demands, family traditions and the latest political thinking i an effort to fit in with established wisdom and cutting-edge cool – where does it get us? Nowhere, that’s where. Why try to live up to the expectations of others? Whose life is it anyway? Better, surely, to spend your fleeting time on this earth looking for something with more meaning, something that brings you happiness, a feeling of achievement, or at least contentment.
We find her making this fundamental point over music that sees her move slightly away from the punk-infused indie and punchy power pop, which are her sonic weapons of choice, and head to the more sonically poetic pastures of hazy psychedelia. And this is the perfect sound with which to cocoon her universal truths, for where better to pose rhetorical questions that don’t demand an answer than in the lysergic grip of music that always felt like a personal, singular trip.
This is not a song designed to start a conversation; it is a song intended to make the listener reassess some of the choices that they have made, rethink what they think they are aiming for, ponder the path they have chosen, and ask new questions about what they want out of life’s rich pageant.
So, what do you wanna do? Where do you wanna go?
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