With the dazzling quintet project No Nation but Imagination, British pianist and composer Alexander Hawkins presents a fascinating musical panorama, a distillation and synthesis of different traditions and influences, reflecting the broad spectrum of an extraordinary musical spirit. "The improvisation-driven music opens new vistas in Hawkins’ work" writes Peter Margasak in the liner notes and adds: "Few musicians are as thoughtful and rigorous as Alexander Hawkins, a perpetual student of his craft writ large who routinely straddles an analytic mindset and an experiential one. His insistent curiosity consistently leads him to fresh discoveries of all kinds of musical practices and traditions, and his gift for assimilating the knowledge he amasses provides an ever-expanding range of possibilities. The material was wide open for the group, his post-production work masterfully knits the music together into what appears as some of the most ensemble-oriented endeavors I’ve ever heard from him."

The album's title is inspired by Derek Walcott's famous line from the poem "The Schooner Fight".

Graphic design: Jonas Schoder
Liner notes: Peter Margasak
Photo credits: Edu Hawkins, Marek Lazarski, Harald Krichel and Artists.

All compositions by Alexander Hawkins (PRS), except “Mirror No Border (Davies/Drake/Hawkins/Mitchell/Wright) and “Coda over the Fence” (Drake/Hawkins/Mitchell). Recorded February 3, 2025, at Fish Factory Studios, London, by Ben Lamdin. Additional materials from February 2, 2025, recorded live at Café OTO by Billy Steiger. Editing, mixing and post-production Spring/Summer 2025, by Alexander Hawkins, Oxford. Mastered October/November 2025, by Alex Bonney, London. Cover art contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2025), processed by ESA.

Produced by Alexander Hawkins and Intakt Records. Published by Intakt Records. Intakt Records, P. O. Box, 8024 Zürich, Switzerland.