HMS Beckett’s greyhound / fern / swallowtail / apple tree is the kind of album that makes quietness feel purposeful. Written by Chris Beckett during a remarkable burst of creativity in late 2025, the record turns long-held feelings about the climate crisis into intimate folk music, choosing closeness and observation over grand statements.
Across seven tracks, acoustic guitar provides the foundation, while piano, percussion, bass, spoken word and carefully placed atmospheric touches widen the view. “summons” opens the door gently, establishing the reflective mood without spelling everything out. “swanning” benefits from Lou Richards’ backing vocals, while “Summer field” has a warmth that feels almost suspended in time. Beckett’s singing is unforced and human, and that suits songs concerned with memory, nature, fear and affection.
The album’s centre of gravity is its nearly twenty-two-minute title piece, which joins “greyhound / fern / swallowtail / apple tree” with “will anyone remember the dew?”, “the wheel” and “Love made a garden.” Its length never feels like a stunt. Instead, the piece unfolds patiently, allowing images and musical ideas to gather meaning as they pass. By the time “Gaia [reprise]” closes the record, the return feels earned rather than simply repeated.
What I admire most is Beckett’s refusal to turn environmental concern into a lecture. The album was conceived as a love letter to nature, with his greyhound Lilly at its emotional heart, and that personal scale gives the larger subject real weight. The climate crisis is present throughout, but so are tenderness, gratitude and the stubborn possibility of hope.
greyhound / fern / swallowtail / apple tree succeeds because it sounds lived-in rather than manufactured. It is modest in presentation but generous in feeling, a thoughtful folk record that asks for attention and rewards it with warmth, sincerity and a lasting sense of connection long after the final notes disappear quietly.
