Most classically trained musicians who make the step into pop composition have no qualms about taking their venerated instruments with them, and Anni Rossi is no exception. The front page of her website features the 23-year-old Minnesotan with her viola slung like a guitar. Rossi also plays keys, and clearly got her practice time in while making Heavy Meadow: Synths are an integral element of the record, layered into the background in a few tracks and right up front in others.
One exception would be "Land Majestic," which opens with an immediately catchy viola hook — the centerpiece toward which the stilted backup strumming and Rossi herself gravitates. Much like her labelmate Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, Rossi sings with full volume and precise clarity, with not a single word garbled under the mix. The difference with Rossi is her restraint, not ascending nor descending, but instead keeping to a tonal center — and in charming fashion.
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