This heat, this work of musical abstraction, is largely made possible by the tools of digital technology that he employs. It is a means of musical production that allows for the obliteration of questions of representation or instrumentation. Strings, synthesizers, pianos and guitars all fade away into the fog of what they once were. A tropical mist (or a northerly breeze) of sound is also a musical resonance of imagination.

The title comes from a quote, "The imaginary country... one that cannot be found on a map," uttered by Debussy in regards to the sad state of musical affairs at the time, arguing that music was in dire need for alternate worlds of possibility. In some ways this is a utopian work, in the sense of the term meaning that of 'no-place'. All the tracks are landmarks in a dream cartography.

With this album Tim Hecker expands his palette as well as his range, further cementing his reputation as a singular and significant entity in the world of contemporary music.

An Imaginary Country follows a collaboration with Aidan Baker for the Alien8 label entitled "Fantasma Parastasie" released in the fall of 2008, and the Harmony in Ultraviolet album released in late 2006 on kranky.