The new album ‘Headlong’ contains all but one of Christopher Fox’s works for solo clarinet and like his previous Métier albums is an awe-inspiring mix of compositions which may be avant-garde and untraditional, but he has the gift of using relative simplicity and very often a wit which makes listening enjoyable and often good fun too. His position as one of the most individual and talented of today’s modernists is assured.

The brilliant Heather Roche is the sole performer on the album, playing clarinets in E flat and C, bass clarinet and contrabass, often overdubbing to duet with herself and with occasional electronics and sampling to create additional textures. An essential album for new-music fans but will also give less adventurous listeners a very pleasant and fascinating set of new discoveries.