A rogue planet is a celestial body drifting freely through space, with no star to orbit. It was in a National Geographic special that Fons Herder, singer and guitarist of A Liquid Landscape, came across the term: “It immediately spoke to me. It had something so desolate, so fragile and, yet, dangerous and potentially hostile. It kept lingering and when the time came to finish the lyrics I started using it as a metaphor for the state of the world – our society as it is today.” Rogue Planet is thus about isolation in a world more connected than ever, between disillusionment, existential drift and fragile hope.

The record, seven tracks over 41 minutes, opens with the two parts of Few and Far Between, the first of which was chosen as the single, and on which Fons Herder sings that “life is but a cosmic sigh”. Then come the diptych Intention and Consequence, and the two halves of Raven Song, which deals with screens, desires “passing through the wires” and ravens picking carcasses clean, before Virgo Calling closes the album at nearly ten minutes. Without turning its back on the art rock it is known for, the band beefs up its sound here and looks more towards the alternative rock of the late ’90s and early 2000s.

Recorded and mixed by guitarist Niels van Dam and mastered by Steve Kitch, Rogue Planet came out digitally on 28 May 2026, then on vinyl and CD on 5 June, on Glassville Music. The artwork is by Lex Vesseur and Fons Herder.

About the band

The core of A Liquid Landscape came together in 1999 around brothers Niels and Robert van Dam and Fons Herder. After several names and several drummers, Coen Speelman joined in 2007, and the band took its current name in 2009. That same year it released the EP Long Lost Traveler, which got it signed to Glassville, followed by two albums, Nightingale Express (2012) and The Largest Fire Known to Man (2014), and the EP Stories Left Untold (2016). The band toured a lot, in the Netherlands and abroad, supporting Anathema, Marillion, Karnivool, Riverside, Soen, Thrice, The Pineapple Thief and Crippled Black Phoenix.

Then life took over, and Covid brought everything to a halt. The band kept writing in silence, and when they finally played the new songs together in a room, one thing was clear: they were not done yet.

Line-up: Fons Herder (vocals, guitar), Niels van Dam (lead guitar), Robert van Dam (bass), Coen Speelman (drums).

Find them here and there:
YouTube: Few and Far Between (Part I)
Official website
Spotify
YouTube
Instagram
Facebook

Review published in partnership with Bad Dog Promotions, a music PR agency (UK).