Review: These Are the Contents of My Head

There’s a lot going on Salty Brine’s head, as it turns out. This glitzy, impeccably produced cabaret show takes the songs from Annie Lennox’s 1992 solo album DIVA and performs them showtune-style by channelling Judy Garland at the Carnegie Hall, with Brine’s glorious voice backed up by a smart five-piece band. But that’s barely the tip of the iceberg.

The songs serve as emotional exposition for a story which features Edna, the protagonist from Kate Chopin’s proto-feminist great American novel The Awakening, as well as his mother’s new life after divorcing his father, and the impact that all of this had upon Brine in his formative years. Phew. Lucky that Brine is a true, old-fashioned star. The New York cabaret icon makes it look glamorously easy as he weaves together these disparate threads into a gorgeous parable about rebellion, romance, heartbreak, and the pursuit of a life which feels truly yours.

Part of Brine’s ‘Living Record Collection’ series, which pairs classic albums and classic texts with classic showbiz, perhaps the Annie Lennox of it all could have played a bigger role. Even so, his interpretation of 'Walking on Broken Glass' is pure emotion, unifying all these narratives in a grand, multi-generational bid for freedom.