The Ten Greatest International Records of 2025
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of worldwide music that pushed boundaries. Here is a countdown of ten exceptional albums that characterized the year in music.
10. The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
An album consisting of a single, extended movement of cyclical drumming might not seem the most accessible listening experience. Yet, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar transforms this insistent rhythm into a strangely alluring work. Directing an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar develops a intricate percussive dialect across the record's ten sections. The album draws from the phasing techniques of Steve Reich combined with traditional Indian musical phrasing, all anchored in the recurrence of a ongoing, pulsing refrain. Over its duration, this refrain begins to emulate the trance-inducing cycles of ceremonial music, luring the listener further into Korwar's singular percussive realm.
9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
Following an long absence, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a contemplative album of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged sound that made her a staple in the region's indie music scene since the nineties. Hamdan's vocal delivery is quiet and thoughtful, delivering delicate melodies over the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop beat of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she adopts a wavering, longing vocal technique over electronic lines with North African flavors and skittering electronic percussion. The album's sound is sparse and understated, yet this austerity provides the perfect environment for Hamdan's emotive compositions to shine through. This is a record truly deserving of the long anticipation.
8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down
From Mexico producer Debit specializes in eerie reinterpretations of archival audio. For her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she focuses on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dub-inflected interpretation of the rhythmic Latin American dance music genre. Debit decelerates this sound to a near-halt, running its characteristic synths and syncopated rhythm through layers of murk and static to create a novel, menacing beat. Periodically ambient and uneasy, Debit transforms the celebratory dancefloor sound of cumbia into a enduring, ghostly memory.
7. DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Maximalism is the operative word for the records of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K. Inventing his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a onslaught of sirens, pummeling bass tones and shouted lyrics over the enduring Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This captures the driving sound of urban celebrations. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the ferocity, throwing in everything from techno kick drums to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a especially manic and punishingly loud forty-minute sonic journey. Give in to the noise and Vieira's brash productions become unexpectedly exhilarating.
Number Six: Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco music and Punjabi folk melodies is a rediscovered gem. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an unusually captivating blend of the metallic sound of 1980s synthesisers and programmed drums with her ornate classical Indian singing style. Electronic percussion echoes the wavelike tones of the tabla, while synthesiser melody replicates the classic sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Elsewhere, Latin-inflected grooves comes to the fore on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a fast-paced funky bass rhythm. It's a party blend pioneered over a decade before the Asian Underground explosion.
Number Five: Enji – Resonance
Mongolian vocalist Enji's gentle latest record, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-influenced sound to deliver some of her most diverse music to date. Moving away from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks travel from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodies of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a sprightly, funk-tinged cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Showcasing a full backing band rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains personal, pulling the listener into the tender acoustics of her unique voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow
Channeling the psychedelic tradition of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup Şimşek merges the electric jangle of the amplified traditional lute with woozy keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a retro-70s aesthetic rooted in Yıldırım's powerful high register and shaped by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. However, on classic Turkish songs such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group reaches lively new territory. They create slinking, downtempo grooves and lifting vocals that give a novel, off-kilter twist to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Sacred music, Eastern European folk melodies and orchestral strings merge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary latest work. Arranging music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett journey through a vast range including the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the theatrical counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic reggaeton-inspired beats of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim
