“The title comes from a collection of short stories by Jorge Luis Borges,” Hsing Jiangbo, also known as iimmune, tells Apple Music about his 2024 album 虛構集 (Fictions). “I don’t entirely understand the stories—but that stupefying feeling is what I hope to replicate. When I chose the title, I’d already decided that theme and concept were the album’s least essential elements. I just wanted to assemble a random collection—like a book of essays, the passage of time or study notes.” Between 2015 and 2018, the electronic artist released his debut solo album, Ocean, and three EPs with a distinctive mix of IDM, techno and glitch elements, before turning his focus to work as a producer, audio engineer and the guitarist for electro post-rockers Glow Curve. Six years since his previous major release under the iimmune name, Hsing taps the sounds of ambient dub, jazz and avant-garde electronic music to weave a fantasy world out of his interconnected personal and professional lives. “The ‘fiction’ of the album is that I no longer remember the starting point for any of the tracks,” he says. “I hope the listener will take these vibrograms of utterly forgotten origin and concoct something new—be it dramatic or mundane.” Judging by the track title alone, “博格達假設” (“Bodga Peak Hypothesis”) appears furthest removed from life. “It’s designed with a deliberate lack of design,” Hsing explains. “I didn’t want to be constrained by any framework, be it notes, beats or number of measures. I wanted limitless development and change while maintaining harmony and a sense of flow.” Another title that tickles the imagination, “六點半棍” (“Six-and-a-half-point staff”), is the oldest track on the album. “This one was more IDM in its earliest version, with drums nothing like they are now,” Hsing says. “They sounded more electronic—I may even have performed it in a club. I hadn’t opened the file in years but when I slated it for the album, I went back and tweaked the structure and timbre.” Hsing also revised “游泳” (“Swimming”), an ambient piece released as a single in 2019 in a different incarnation. “I left only the basic harmonic progression in place on the remake and finished it off using an essentially unmodified synth tone,” he says. “If you listen to the two, they’re completely different songs. I kept the name because the first version is like learning how to swim, while the second is like going skin diving.” According to Hsing, working on a solo project gives him the chance to explore new avenues of musical expression. “A band is a collection of the aesthetics and wills of multiple people, each with their own strengths, who need to make concessions and compromises before reaching mutual satisfaction,” he says. “A solo project has no restrictions. You can let your own aesthetics and will expand however you want. The other difference is that a personal project allows to you try out non-band styles. I like lots of genres of music—and given the time and energy, I’d love to try them out.”