Nellie McKay Riffs on Lynyrd Skynyrd for 'Home Sweet Mobile Home'

A singular M.O., one that reads something like her way or the highway, has thus far decided the work and career of Nellie McKay. But McKay's quirky attitude and the premise of hitting the open-road -- both literally and metaphorically -- meet up on the New York-based singer-songwriter's fifth album, 'Home Sweet Mobile Home.'

"I like the idea of a home being mobile, one that can move," McKay tells Spinner of the title. "It's nice to spend time in other places. I also thought of Mobile, Ala.," she says, adding that the record's name riffs on Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Sweet Home Alabama.'

But her main inspiration is a typical social one. "It's probably more associated with boom economy [and] over-development," she says. "I was in Boulder, Colo., the local magazine there had a picture of a bulldozer and a teddy bear. The headline was 'Home Sweet Mobile Home,' because they had bulldozed this community of mobile homes to make way for a luxury development."

McKay isn't totally on a political soapbox, however. The record's musical tone is bright and sweet, and she hopes it's ultimately uplifting. "It is a positive record," she says. "I don't know. That's up to people to decide."

After covering the songs of fellow animal rights activist Doris Day on her acclaimed 2009 album 'Normal as Blueberry Pie -- A Tribute to Doris Day,' the 28-year-old McKay was ready to wear her own creative hat on this set of jazzy pop originals. "That record, those standards, it makes you want to write some yourself," she says. "I'm sure she's in there somewhere, if not a specific musical style but her optimism and can-do spirit. This record was a big project and we needed the chutzpah that Doris had so much of."

'Home Sweet Mobile Home' is out now on Verve Records.