Fire Records are proud to announce the release of the single “I Like Rain b/w Fish In The Sea” by The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, in anticipation of upcoming release of the comprehensive box set “I Like Rain: The Story of The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience”.

Six years in the making, the first fruits of our extensive archive project for New Zealand’s The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience can be revealed. Issued under exclusive license from Flying Nun Records, we showcase the band that best encompasses that label’s difficult arc from scrappy cult label in the 80s to a corporate-minded takeover in the 90s. From wildly crashing Christmas parties, to watching the brilliant album that could have changed their fortunes sit on the shelf, and international tours that left them undone, the band evolved, for better or worse, with the shifting fortunes around them.

One of their earliest songs, “I Like Rain” remains an absolute classic of the era. Filled with charm at every turn, the band makes the most of a limited recording budget to find inventive melodies, harmonies, and percussion, combining them into a unique and oddly joyous kiwipop gem. The song would serve to trumpet a new voice on the New Zealand scene along with bringing us one of the greatest band names in the history of indie rock.

Now fully re-mastered with aching care, old fans and new audiences alike will be able to enjoy the sound of every sharp note and layered vocal in all its glory. Backed with the lurching and inventive “Fish In The Sea”, this serves as the perfect introduction to what makes The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience so special.

Coming later in 2015, “I Like Rain: The Story of The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience” will feature all of the band’s studio recordings, with the “Love Songs” album combining the first two EPs and 45, the extended US-version of “Size of Food” and their final album “Bleeding Star”, along with bonus tracks that go as far as back as their first cassette release, that originally came packaged in a dog food tin. All audio is re-mastered and the extensive liner notes include an entertaining oral history of the band.

Fire Archive is a continuation of the celebrated efforts of the label to reissue important records from the past, prepared with loving care for existing fans and new audiences alike. Each release receives special attention to audio and packaging as we strive to provide the definitive version for decades to come.