Released on its own on CD for the first time, the 1985 Associates album Perhaps remains an odd masterpiece. Remastered, and loaded with bonus tracks, this new Cherry Red edition of the record has certainly never sounded better, and for those of us who revere the legacy of Billy Mackenzie, this one is extra special. While it might not be the best Associates release overall, it undoubtedly contains some of the band's very best singles, even if, by this point in their career, The Associates were mainly just Billy Mackenzie.
Famously rejected by Warners, Perhaps had to be restarted and worked on for another two years before its release in 1985. Criminally underrated at the time (like lots of what the late Billy Mackenzie created), the album didn't sell enough copies back then. However, as Mackenzie's material continues to get reissued, it feels like this one, like many of the Associates albums, is now being viewed with more understanding. And, frankly, Perhaps may not be as adventurous overall as Sulk (1982), or even Fourth Drawer Down (1981), but it contains some of the very best, more essential Associates numbers. In fact, the album starts with one.
"Those First Impressions" remains a shimmering, swoon-y gem. Billy's coos, particularly those high notes near the end, place his talents as a vocalist right up there next to those of anyone in the post-punk era, and the production on this one, including work from Martyn Ware of The Human League and Heaven 17, serves Mackenzie's vision extraordinarily well. "Waiting for the Loveboat", another classic, is next. The cut, a sort of New Wave revamping of late disco stuff, is far more dance-able than nearly anything being thrown down by any other Brit act in the era. I think that's because Mackenzie was, clearly, wholeheartedly willing to give himself over to the material in an non-ironic embrace of the possibilities of dance music. And while the album version of this one is good, there are three other versions of this classic cut on this new Cherry Red edition of Perhaps.
Of the other album cuts proper, "Helicopter Helicopter" is frenetic, nearly like something from Eighties peers like Fad Gadget, while "Breakfast" is lovely and considered. A number that's the very definition of elegant, "Breakfast", in any of the many versions included on this edition of Perhaps, is one of Billy Mackenzie's finest moments. "The Stranger in Your Voice" benefits from a lush string arrangement, while "Don't Give Me That 'I Told You So' Look" is operatic and nearly unrestrained. It's borderline experimental, and proof that Perhaps didn't mark the end of the risk-taking associated with the earlier Alan Rankine-associated Associates records.
Of the bonus cuts here on this expansive Perhaps set, an epic-length extended version of "Those First Impressions" works surprisingly well, further proof of how natural the late Mackenzie was at understanding what could be done with club music, while the hyper "Perhaps Perhaps" seems more a deconstruction of the band's best qualities. Still, the single "Take Me to the Girl", rendered here in four versions (including a torch song recasting), is wonderful and sublime and, in my opinion, another of the band's most perfect compositions. Billy Mackenzie's vocals here are emotional but controlled, with just the faintest hint that he's being pulled along by forces beyond his control, even as the skipping keyboard figure anchors the song and buries the melody in your brain. It is, like all the best tracks here, essential. I feel that way about everything by The Associates, and so perhaps this version of Perhaps will get the sort of praise it's always deserved thanks to this spectacular new two-disc edition.
Perhaps is out now via Cherry Red.