Hook & Reel: Christine & the Queens’ ‘Doesn’t Matter’ is a refreshing articulation of queer faith
Writer Chris Will explores queer faith through the lens of Christine & the Queens’ new track.
Welcome to Hook & Reel, a series showcasing music that’s guaranteed to catch your ear.
Faith is a tricky emotional web to navigate for everyone, a balancing act between a person’s own moral and ethical code and the publicly-indoctrinated set of rules that, more often than not, a religious community will pressure its members to follow without exception. To come into your own as a queer individual, and to attempt to live and love freely and openly can mean completely restructuring the way you view those rules, your religion and your higher power (or powers). It can be incredibly difficult and painful, and it can also lead to dealing with vicious discrimination from your religious community ⎯⎯ whether it be locally, globally or both.
I still remember breaking down in my car right before Christmas in 2014, just a few months after I started to date and surround myself with queer men. I was listening to the Pentatonix cover of “Little Drummer Boy,” and the line “then he smiled at me” was unexpectedly and overwhelmingly affecting. That desire to be accepted by God while being true to my own existence as a gay man was causing a huge amount of internal conflict, and it took a substantial amount of self-love, acceptance and patience to start to heal that rift in my mind.
A similar type of wild pain runs freely in the new single from queer-pop icon Christine & the Queens. Titled “Doesn’t Matter” (or “voleur de soleil” for the French version), the song finds Héloïse Letissier doing what she does best, deftly and intelligently exploring the many facets of LGBTQIA+ life through slick ’80s synth-pop and earworm melodies. She tackles her own struggle with faith here, finding comfort in the agony of those attempting to rectify their own existence around her, while questioning both the horrific realities she sees in the world and the unknown that looms ahead of her in the afterlife. She continuously builds tension over the first few verses and choruses, every scalding admission and inquiry sharpening the rollicking beat until she sounds ready to shatter.
It’s here Letissier’s songwriting talent shines its brightest, her grounding moment in the bridge shifting to a rallying cry to the queer community, to take the spiritual light that they found (but never truly connected with) in the faith communities they grew up in and use that light to create their own religious beliefs ⎯⎯ beliefs that are inclusive to those that don’t always follow the standards of organized religion.
“Doesn’t Matter” stands as the second single to Christine and the Queens’ forthcoming sophomore album Chris, following the sweaty, script-flipping funkadelic come-on that was the album’s first single “Girlfriend.” Based on the pure artistic muscle and refreshing queer energy of both these tracks, it’s a safe bet that Chris will be one of the best releases of 2018. Make sure to purchase and stream it when it drops on September 21, and support a phenomenally talented and underrated pop act.
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