Jammed with legalese, the Mueller report might seem unlikely inspiration for art, but for musician Henry Bloomfield '13, buried in the tome was the stuff of a great album. About a year ago, he began mining songs from the report, finding rhythm between the redactions and lyrics within the citations.
The result is his 29-minute operatic concept album Ongoing Matter, in which he sets the report to music over the course of eight songs that tell a story of loyalty and deception. Nearly all the lyrics are drawn from the Mueller report, but the original text is taken apart and reassembled to form a reconstituted version of the story, as though Bloomfield were working with a Mueller report edition of Magnetic Poetry.
So many of the lines, you don't have to dress them up. Your jaw can drop just reading them.
-Henry Bloomfield 13
I wanted to create not a new narrative, but a new narrative storyline emerged from the mixing and matching, Bloomfield said in a recent online interview from his home in New York City. It's not about the Mueller report, it is the Mueller report.
And though the songs contain lines such as The standard set forth in the Justice Manual, and The office transferred responsibility for remaining issues, they're not dull. So many of the lines, you don't have to dress them up. Your jaw can drop just reading them, he says. I was going for the juicy, juicy from the beginning.
Setting the document to music, Bloomfield says, makes it a bit more palatable since it's otherwise quite disheartening. He punches up the lyrics with angular music full of twists and turns, a blend of what he calls upbeat-offbeat pop and industrial funk. Throughout the opera, the listener can never get too comfortable. There might just be a diversion. Any sorts of buzzes and slams and hard-right turns in some ways might reflect just the onslaught of the news cycle or just all these insane details, he says. At times, however, the music takes the edge off the otherwise dreary nature of the subject material.
Watch the music video for the song Somebody Sitting in a Bed Some Place, which shows how Bloomfield drafted the song from the Mueller report:
Video of Somebody Sitting in a Bed Some Place (Footnote Video)
Behind the political maneuverings, and at the core of Ongoing Matter, Bloomfield sees a human story of devotion and betrayal. The characters in the opera correspond to their real-life counterparts but also live in the uncanny valley of a dramatization. The protagonist is Michael (Cohen), who starts the apologue as a loyalist to the character called Prez, and ends it as Prez's fall guy.
[Michael] was kind of an interesting vessel through which to view the tornadoes and hurricanes that were just enveloping around him, Bloomfield says, adding that he wanted the morality tale to go a bit beyond the outlines of Cohen himself. I didn't want to use any of their proper full names, because who in some ways can't relate to just wanting to please someone, and at times even doing things or saying things that you think later, Was I really just trying to get on their good side? How far am I going to go with this?'
Bloomfield had been working on the music that landed on Ongoing Matter for a couple of years but didn't really have a home for it until he started writing the project last fall, beginning with reading the Mueller report twice. By the winter, he was recording the album, vocalizing all of it and performing most of the instrumentalization. He released it on all major streaming platforms on September 16.
He says he'd like to see Ongoing Matter end up on the stage, but can't really imagine when that could next happen. So if there was more of a kind of video/film manifestation of it, that would be incredible. I'm quite open to another sort of direction that someone would be inspired to take it. I would be all ears about that sort of thing, he says.
Listen to Ongoing Matter on Spotify:
From Orientation to a Career Path Bloomfield's background makes him well-prepared to adapt the opera to film, if that's the direction it goes. After leaving Berklee, where he majored in contemporary writing and production, he moved to Seoul, South Korea, to be in a band with musicians he met during his first day of orientation. Everything that came after that day, including Ongoing Matter, he says, wouldn't have happened without that encounter.
During his two years in Seoul, in addition to experimenting with music videos and playing with his band, Bloomfield met people with whom he would later collaborate to create the musical film They Say It's Wonderful. It was a showing of this film that led Bloomfield to a meeting with Baz Luhrmann, who was adapting his movie Moulin Rouge to Broadway and needed new music for a promotional piece for the show. Bloomfield created this piece, which wasn't released because of the cost of acquiring recording rights to all the tracks used. Still, Bloomfield says, it was an amazing experience to work on the project.
One thing Bloomfield says he's learned from the various projects he's worked on is to not judge his initial ideas harshly or be too quick to dismiss them. For example, he started making the music for Ongoing Matter well before he had the idea to create an unconventional opera based on the Mueller report. These seedlings, they should never be thrown out because you just never know where its going to be even six months or, for me, on one of these tracks, a year and a half later, he says.
Related categories:
News
Berklee Today
Related Reading
Berklees Student Newspaper Finds a New Groove The relaunched Berklee Groove website highlights student music and provides industry wisdom, album reviews, wellness advice, and fashion tips.
They Keep Saying: Keira
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
18/08/2026
SMT will provide race technology for FOX Sports' coverage of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on August 23, when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES races ...
18/08/2026
The live, YouTube-native roundtables combine fan voices, credentialed reporters,...
18/08/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/08/2026
The industry legend sounds off on replacing the Heat's iconic Medusa score...
18/08/2026
William F. Rasmussen, the sports fan-turned broadcaster and entrepreneur whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network, ESPN, changed forever the ...
18/08/2026
DAZN Group has completed its acquisition of ViewLift, a provider of streaming and digital solutions for sports content owners. The acquisition was first announc...
18/08/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has added SI TV, Sports Illustrated's 24/7 streaming channel, as a broadcast partner for the remain...
18/08/2026
The Esports Foundation has announced that the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC), originally scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, will be postponed to Novemb...
18/08/2026
Diversified has announced a new Global Managed Services Practice, consolidating the company's managed services capabilities into one organization. Rob Mello...
18/08/2026
Appear has completed a proof of concept with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP), demonstrating multi-camera remote live production over bonded 5G cellular an...
Jammed with legalese, the Mueller report might seem unlikely inspiration for art, but for musician Henry Bloomfield '13, buried in the tome was the stuff of a great album. About a year ago, he began mining songs from the report, finding rhythm between the redactions and lyrics within the citations. 
