The understated chill of Rosemary Lane is part of what draws people, magnetically it seems, to this album, perhaps Jansch’s solo peak, at least of his ‘early years’. There’s a strange remove to some of the performances here, a coldness or starkness that’s incredibly beguiling. Jansch sounds relaxed, as though he’s slowly unwound from the intensity of touring with The Pentangle; his song writing is poetic without flourish or whimsy, and his guitar playing, always exceptional, reaches new lyricism. There’s little better in Jansch’s recorded canon than his stark settings of traditional songs “Reynardine” and “Rosemary Lane” here, and the embrace of 16th and 17th century compositions “Alman” and “Sarabanda” point in new creative directions. But it’s that stark, rarefied air that sticks with you long after Rosemary Lane has finished spinning on the deck.