PROJECTOR Return With ‘I Need A Lie Down’ Ahead of 2026 UK and France Dates
Brighton quartet PROJECTOR return with their new single “I Need A Lie Down”, released digitally on 1 October 2026 via Alcopop! Records.
The track was originally released as a limited-edition 7-inch exclusive with French music magazine MOWNO and is now being made available digitally for the first time.
“I Need A Lie Down” was engineered and mixed by drummer Callum Marinho and new guitarist Rowan McIntosh, marking the band's first recorded material with McIntosh as a full member.
Frontman Edward Ensbury describes the track as an experiment for the new line-up.
“We have a new member, Rowan, playing guitar and this was our first time writing and recording with him.”
McIntosh had previously worked with PROJECTOR as a session guitarist for their live performances before joining the band permanently.
Ensbury says the new line-up brought an unpredictable energy to the recording, describing “I Need A Lie Down” as “pretty deranged” and suggesting that the band's future direction remains deliberately uncertain.
“We were all very excited to be playing together after so long and I think that’s why it came out so mad and all over the place,” he says.
Vocalist and bassist Lucy Sheehan says the song was written with the band's live performances in mind.
“I wanted to write something to play live that would maybe make people feel sick and culminate in a horrific wall of noise.”
Sheehan says she began with a bass line before the rest of the band added what she describes as the track's “terror and shrieking”.
PROJECTOR Head Back to France
The new single arrives alongside news of PROJECTOR's upcoming French dates.
The band have developed a strong connection with France and its music scene, with Sheehan describing the country as somewhere the group feels particularly comfortable performing.
Their relationship with MOWNO also led to a release party in Paris earlier this year.
Sheehan recalls the event taking place during extreme heat, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees and some of the band's equipment having to be kept in a backstage fridge.
Despite the conditions, she says the band had a memorable experience.
PROJECTOR's current dates include:
- 16 October 2026 – Ven Rest Up, France
- 17 October 2026 – (Re)trouvailles, France
- 7 November 2026 – Nantes, Catapult Festival @ Stereolux, France
- 16 November 2026 – London, The Lexington, with BO NINGEN
The London performance forms part of Alcopop! Records' 20th anniversary celebrations.
Building on Contempt
PROJECTOR released their second album, Contempt, in 2025 through Alcopop! Records.
The album was recorded and produced by Ben Hampson, known for his work with DITZ and Lambrini Girls, and mastered by Katie Tavini.
It followed the band's 2024 debut album, NOW WHEN WE TALK IT’S VIOLENCE, released through Venn Records.
Singles including “The Sham! The Sham! The Sham!”, “Collision”, “It Surely Has Been Hell” and “Migraine” helped build attention around the album, with the band receiving support from BBC 6 Music, Radio X, BBC Introducing, Amazing Radio, The Line of Best Fit and Get In Her Ears.
The quartet have also toured with Canadian rock band Cleopatrick, completed UK and French headline dates, supported Scottish indie rock band Swim School across Europe and appeared at TRUCK Festival and Homegrown Festival.
New Music Planned for 2027
PROJECTOR are currently working on a new body of material, with a release planned for 2027.
The band have been experimenting with different sounds and approaches to songwriting, with Sheehan suggesting the forthcoming material will take the group in some unexpected directions.
“We’ve got some plans brewing, we’ve been messing around with a lot of different sounds and ways of writing,” she says. “It’s coming out pretty weird but I think our folk will like it.”
For now, “I Need A Lie Down” gives listeners the first taste of PROJECTOR's latest musical direction.
PROJECTOR's latest album, Contempt, is out now via Alcopop! Records.
Image provided by Alcopop Records