Australian Instrumental Progressive Jazz Rock act Zeitgeber have unveiled the official video for the track “Innenwelt (reprise)” taken from their new album, “Fellow Prisoners of the Splendour and Travail of the Earth – Part 2,” released on October 24, 2025 via Art As Catharsis.
Watch the video for “Innenwelt (reprise)” via the YouTube player below:
Zeitgeber returns with “Fellow Prisoners of the Splendour and Travail of the Earth – Part 2,” a bold continuation of their boundary-pushing exploration of perception and rhythm.
Art As Catharsis is proud to announce Zeitgeber’s latest album, “Fellow Prisoners of the Splendour and Travail of the Earth – Part 2” – a vivid, exploratory journey that completes a two-part concept examining the nature of perception, chronobiology, and the diverse sensory worlds of living beings.
At the core of Part 2 lies an ongoing fascination with perception — not just as a psychological or sensory process, but as a biological anchor that shapes how different species experience reality. Drawing from the field of chronobiology and the philosophy of Umwelt (the idea that each organism lives in a distinct perceptual world), Zeitgeber turns musical composition into a kind of speculative empathy: an attempt to sonify what it might feel like to live inside other ways of sensing and being.
Tracks like “Echolocate – seeing with sound” and “Zugunruhe” are named after specific biological phenomena — echolocation in bats and dolphins, and the migratory restlessness observed in birds. Rather than approaching these ideas through literal sound design or programmatic composition, Zeitgeber translates them into rhythmic structures, harmonic tension, and contrasting motifs. The rapid, syncopated bursts in “Echolocate” evoke the fragmented perception of sonar navigation, while the cyclical motifs and gradually shifting intensities in “Zugunruhe” mirror the invisible pull of internal migration clocks.
In this way, the album suggests that every creature is a kind of prisoner — bounded by the edges of its perceptual reality — but also a participant in a shared splendour, shaped by evolutionary marvels, ineffable instincts, and the will to navigate complexity. For Zeitgeber, exploring these themes is both a philosophical exercise and an act of reverence: a reminder that perspective itself is plural, mysterious, and worthy of musical inquiry.
“This whole album was written alongside Part 1,” says McGregor. “But by the time I reached ‘Echolocate,’ I had found my footing and began pushing the project further – structurally, emotionally, and conceptually. You can feel the contrast; Part 2 takes more risks and experiments more freely.”
The sonic terrain continues to draw from Progressive Jazz, Experimental Minimalism, and Post-Rock atmospherics, but the emotional palette here is broader, more textured. Playful passages unravel into darkness, only to resurface with a sense of hope or wonder. It’s music that resists easy categorisation – designed to disrupt, surprise, and ultimately connect.
As with its predecessor, Part 2 centres piano and drums within dense, layered arrangements. These tracks unfold with the natural logic of living systems – intuitively shaped, deeply personal, and free of commercial constraint.
“I’m drawn to the idea that we are all ‘fellow prisoners’ of our own perceptual worlds,” explains McGregor. “We can’t escape them, but through imagination, art, and attention, we can at least begin to sense how radically different life is across species. That shift in perspective is what drives my work.”
Zeitgeber’s “Fellow Prisoners of the Splendour and Travail of the Earth – Part 2” is both a completion and an expansion – a twin to Part 1, but also a leap forward in complexity, expression, and sonic ambition.
Purchase “Fellow Prisoners of the Splendour and Travail of the Earth – Part 2” on Bandcamp: https://zeitgeber-aus.bandcamp.com/album/fellow-prisoners-of-the-splendour-and-travail-of-the-earth-part-2
Tracklist:
01. Echolocate – seeing with sound 10:18
02. Echolocate – squeezing your surroundings with phantasmal hands 08:37
03. Innenwelt (reprise) – the seismic sense 02:56
04. Zugunruhe – unrest 07:48
05. Zugunruhe – taking flight 10:18
Lineup:
Evan McGregor / Piano, Drums, Bass, Synths, Didgeridoo, Harmonium, Percussion
Phillipa Murphy-Haste / Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Viola
With:
Ellen Kirkwood / Trumpet
Tim Brown / Guitar