Where Is Love? – Tobin Mueller (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Many artists make music as a natural response to the twists and turns of life that goes on around them. While there are many others who can occasionally match Tobin Mueller‘s poetic ability to describe the happier experiences, few match his ability to explore, describe and find the silver linings, the hope, and the optimism, in its darker times and places.

Where Is Love? is Tobin at his absolute best in terms of not only dealing with poignant and powerful subjects but also in the art of creating genuinely intriguing music.

The point of discussion here is human trafficking, the slave trade driven by some desire to exploit the poor, weak and vulnerable for money. A trade driven by the out-of-control rush for ever cheaper resources and a lack of law and regulation in many industrial sectors. A trade which has now surpassed even the drug trade in scope and scale.

As is always the case with instrumental music, its unspoken nature requires the music to create the necessary mood and connection. This song does that through pathos and pace, beguiling intrigue, creating atmosphere and asking the listener to think and feel. To respond to the sounds before them but to empathise with the themes.

And, as always with Tobin’s music, much thought has gone into the music, and many levels are at work. Where Is Love? takes its starting point from the Lionel Bart song of the same name, a song written for the musical Oliver! and the soundtrack to the scene where Dickens’ titular character dares to ask for more of his workhouse masters. That is a very apt reference, indeed.

Clever blends of synthesiser and organ are affected and reversed to create a distorted and broken platform of sound that ebb and flow in and out of consciousness to haunt and heighten the song. On to this, Tobin adds a piano line, itself feeling fractured and otherworldly, snatches and stabs of music, themselves disjointed and disenfranchised, like the lives of those it seeks to paint sonically.

The video is a collage of images of orphans from around the world, a reminder that the very young are affected most, either through direct exploitation as slaves or because they are born into a culture where they are forced to work from a young age. A reminder that in such societies, it is impossible to break free from the chains of industrial exploitation by big business interests. But the video also shows the resilience and camaraderie of those born into such situations – a glimmer of hope, perhaps?

As an inductee of the UNEP Global 500 for his environmental work contributions, Tobin Mueller is far from just another concerned citizen expressing their fears from a safe distance; this is something he knows plenty about and has been immersed in. He understands the broader concerns which drive the slave trade and the destruction of pre-industrial societies and family structures across the world. He also understands the realities behind such concepts as “green energy”, which often perpetuates such situations in the name of progress and ecological stability. But that is a discussion for another time.

When I first started writing about Tobin Mueller‘s music, I could see immediately how broad a musical spectrum he works across. So wide a musical landscape that themes and styles group the compilation albums of his body of work. These cover everything from imaginative reworkings of jazz standards, to his ornate instrumental creations. Run from  progressive blends to pieces of chilled understatement. They even include a collection of lyrically driven pieces. What it took me perhaps longer to appreciate is the sheer depth of his music.

Tobin always creates music that makes you think through exquisite and original music, clever lyrics and impactful visuals. But in a body of work which collectively already stands as a high water mark of creativity, Where Is Love? when taken in all its components, is his most potent piece yet.