By: Lane Brown

At just 20, Nellie McKay sings with the confidence and authority of a much more seasoned performer, but with none of the impulse control. And while she deals in piano ballads, she's got more in common with Eminem and Jay-Z than she does with Tori Amos or Norah Jones. Lyrically McKay is out to push buttons: "Yeah, I'll have my coffee black / Hey, look, we're bombing Iraq," she sang on "Toto Dies" from last year's Get Away From Me.

Though McKay's songwriting and musicianship have matured on the upcoming Pretty Little Head, she's still a loose cannon. Label heads must have breathed a sigh of relief when they found out "Columbia Is Bleeding" is about animal testing at Columbia University and not the Sony Music subsidiary for whom she records. Elsewhere McKay laments the gentrification of the Harlem neighborhood she grew up in ("The Big One") and sings the praises of gay marriage ("Cupcake").

McKay's politics won't win over any red states, but there's a chance that her songs might: She is so gifted a melodist that it's possible ignore the dark subject matter or proliferation of profanities until after the music has burrowed its way into your skull. She was raised on classic jazz and show tunes and many of McKay's songs sound like standards themselves, laced with a dash of Tourette's.

Some controversy has already erupted over Head's tracklisting. Advance copies were mailed out with 16 tracks, though McKay is reportedly fighting hard for the inclusion of all 23 songs she wrote for the album. No word yet as to what Sony would do with the extra space on the CD, though presumably it involves copy protection that would make one's computer burst into flames.