Nellie McKay is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, activist, and a one-of-a kind artist with apparently a boundless sense of creativity and a natural ability to channel the vintage sounds and feel of mid century pop and jazz. This was a defining feature of her music going back to 2004's Get Away From Me, where she emerged as a fully formed off-kilter pop artist who moves between major genres, whether it is softer shades of indie rock, jazzy tunes, Caribbean flavors, or light hip-hop, like an old school cabaret act who is just having a ball. Her songs are sweet and melodic, and she delivers them with plenty of charm. She is a gifted vocalist who has turned her attention to jazz standards in recent years, where her characteristic humor, playfulness, and sense of mischief continue to come through.
No single artist actually covers the same ground as McKay, but in bits and pieces: Madeleine Peyroux, Regina Spektor, Cassandra Wilson, Rufus Wainwright, Cole Porter