Nellie McKay
Get Away From Me
(Columbia)
Introducing Nellie McKay, a jazz-influenced rock and roll cabaret folk singer. Equal parts blog, coffee shop, poetry slam, basement jam and Broadway show, Get Away From Me is 18 surprise-laden songs. While busy records often indicate lack of conviction, direction or talent, McKay—who sounds a bit like Norah Jones, but interesting, and maybe drunk—pulls off torch (“I Wanna Get Married”), new wave (“Waiter”) and whimsy (“Suitcase Song”) with an unsettling, soulful confidence. She’s 19.
—Tara Thorne
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.
