It was the release of the 1994 Island album His ‘N Hers that saw Pulp begin to be taken seriously as a pop concern – 11 years after their debut.

It, released in 1983 (1983!), is a mainly acoustic affair, influenced by the dark-hearted ballads of Leonard Cohen and Scott Walker (who would produce Pulp’s We Love Life some 18 years later). It was followed by Freaks, the result of a personnel shake-up that only leader Jarvis Cocker survived; most significantly, Russell Senior and Candida Doyle joined the band, their guitar and keyboard contributions helping lending a new, darkly glamorous edge to Cocker’s songs. The exuberant direction that Pulp would take on His ‘N Hers and the world-beating Different Class is hinted at on their third studio album, Separations, which gallops along in distinctly disco-friendly fashion. It spawned the critically acclaimed single ‘My Legendary Girlfriend’.

These three albums are being reissued by Fire Records as part of their Embers series. Each album has been newly re-mastered and re-packaged, with bonus tracks and new liner notes by Everett True. It is bolstered with the single version of ‘My Lighthouse’, an alternative mix of ‘Blue Girls’, and the previously unreleased ‘Sink Or Swim’ and ‘Please Don’t Worry’ from Pulp’s ’81 Peel session;  1981; Freaks features a whole disc of extra material, featuring tracks from the non-album singles ‘Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)’ and ‘Dogs are Everywhere’ plus B-sides ‘Tunnel’ and ‘Manon’; Separations comes with ‘Death Goes To The Disco’, ‘Is This House’, an extended version of the single ‘Countdown’ and the previously unreleased ‘Death Comes To Town’.

More information on these reissues here.