The Round Window – Fram (2024)

I once heard the debut album of the English band The Round Window and remembered it but never bought the CD so apparently I didn't think of it as interesting enough at the time. At first I thought that the band name just had something to do with a round window (really?), but when I asked the omniscient wikipedia I came up with the following: The round window is one of the two openings from the middle ear into the  inner ear. It is sealed by the secondary tympanic membrane (round window membrane), which vibrates with opposite phase to vibrations entering the inner ear through the  oval window. Just so you know.

Apparently I missed something because I am quite impressed with the EP Fram which contains only three songs but which are all very beautiful and in retrospect this mini album should have been in my top ten of 2024. Is it so much better than the debut album? Yes, short but sweet.

The song The Silence is just long enough with eleven minutes and contains a lot of quiet atmospheric passages, but you also feel that dramatic threat that an exciting song should evoke. As soon as singer Rich Lock starts, his wonderful voice immediately catches the eye, or rather ear, very British and with a fine mix between warmth and impact. The song is about a soldier during the First World War and the lyrics are actually thoughts and letters from him to his father, mother and sister respectively. The keyboard parts are as always well taken care of by Thomas Lock and the third family member Jack Lock plays drums and does this subtly and tastefully without being a powerhouse. Compared to the previous two albums, there are different guitarists to be heard and that is actually part of the strength of Fram. Per Malmberg plays wonderful solos in The Silence and offers a good match to the lush keys.

The title track is also very beautiful and is about a ship named Fram that has been used by two Norwegian explorers for expeditions to the North and South Poles, the latter of which has become famous. Roald Amundsen is known as the first successful leader of an expedition to the South Pole and used the ship Fram for this. It is therefore as if you see the icy and inhospitable waters and landscapes in front of you while listening to the song. Robin Armstrong, of course known as the man behind Cosmograf, takes care of the beautiful guitar playing that is interwoven like a thread through the music with of course a nice solo. Lock's voice and the atmospheric keys carefully guide you through the song that glides past you at a not too high pace but definitely impresses with it’s beautiful melody lines.

This short disc ends with Hourglass and here too it all remains quite calm but Gareth Cole is allowed to contribute two wonderful guitar solos. Various reflections on, how could it be otherwise, time form the textual framework of this ballad. With almost six minutes, this is the shortest song on the EP, but as far as I'm concerned, they could have played on for a while.

The reason for listening to this EP was a review on a website of fellow proggers and completely against my habit I wrote this review with the help of the available music on bandcamp. Still, I immediately ordered the CD and also included the previous album in the order. Since it is an album from 2024 but I have only written the review now, I have put it with the ones from 2025. Unfortunately, I have the experience that orders from England are very problematic nowadays and I do not expect to receive the CD soon. I didn't think it would be right to wait to post the review until I could listen to the album on CD on a better headphone set, but just assume that Fram is also fine when it comes to sound quality.

In the stream of several new(er) bands from England who dare to make more challenging music (This Winter Machine, Ghost of the Machine, Forgotten Gods etc..) The Round Window hitch a ride, or if you like, sails along with Fram and have made an EP to be proud of.

I understand that the band can be seen and heard at the Prog for Peart festival in July of this year and these tracks will certainly not be out of place in the setlist.

I often also include the cover in a review because I think it is an addition to the total product and in this case it is nice to see that on all albums so far there is a kind of porthole view. In this case, we are looking through this round window at an icy and cold mountain landscape. It's always nice to see that the visual aspect is not forgotten.

Music 81

Cover 77