Our 10 Finest International Records of the Year 2025
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of worldwide sounds that pushed boundaries. Presenting a selection of ten exceptional albums that shaped the year in music.
10. Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
An album consisting of a single, extended movement of cyclical percussion could sound like it isn't the most approachable listening experience. But, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this persistent pulse into a hypnotically captivating work. Leading an group of three drummers, Korwar creates a dense percussive language over the record's ten sections. His composition draws from Steve Reich's phasing motifs as well as classical Indian rhythmic patterns, each grounded in the recurrence of a persistent, thrumming motif. As the album progresses, this refrain starts to mirror the hypnotic repetition of devotional music, drawing the listener deeper into Korwar's distinctive percussive world.
Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
Following an hiatus of eight years, Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a contemplative album of songs. She expands on the Arabic-sung, dub-influenced style that made her a staple in the region's indie music scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is gentle and ruminative, delivering tender melodies over the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop beat of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she adopts a wavering, yearning vibrato over north African synth lines and clattering electronic percussion. The production is sparse and subtle, yet this austerity provides the ideal canvas for Hamdan's deeply felt songwriting to resonate. It is that justifies the long anticipation.
Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas
Mexican electronic artist Debit specializes in uncanny reinterpretations of archival audio. On her latest release, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby interpretation of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit slows this sound even further, running its signature synths and syncopated rhythm via layers of distortion and static to generate a novel, foreboding beat. Periodically atmospheric and uneasy, Debit morphs the exuberant dancefloor sound of cumbia into a enduring, ghostly echo.
Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Sensory overload is the key term for the music of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a onslaught of alarms, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the enduring Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This recreates the energetic sound of urban celebrations. On his follow-up release, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the ferocity, incorporating everything from driving techno rhythms to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a especially hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute sonic journey. Give in to the noise and Vieira's brash productions become unexpectedly exhilarating.
Number Six: Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco beats and traditional Punjabi tunes is a newly appreciated treasure. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks offer an remarkably engaging fusion of the sharp sound of early synthesizers and programmed drums with her melismatic Indian classical vocal technique. Electronic percussion echoes the rolling tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody parallels the classic sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, Latin-inflected grooves is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a driving funky bass rhythm. It's a dancefloor fusion delivered more than ten years before the rise of Asian Underground music.
Number Five: Enji – Sonor
From Mongolia singer Enji's soft new release, Sonor, expands on her jazz-inflected sound to deliver some of her most wide-ranging music so far. Stepping outside her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces veer from the soft jazz-pop melodics of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German-language narration lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a sprightly, funk-inflected cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Showcasing a full backing band rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay close, pulling the listener into the warm acoustics of her unique voice.
4. Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – Yarın Yoksa
Drawing on the psychedelic tradition of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's latest work alongside her group fuses the distinctive buzz of the amplified traditional lute with woozy Mellotron and R&B-inflected lines. It's a nostalgic vibe anchored in Yıldırım's strong high register and shaped by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. Yet, on Turkish standards such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group ventures into lively new territory. They develop smooth, slow-burning grooves and lifting vocals that lend a novel, off-kilter interpretation to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
3. Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Sacred music, Eastern European folk melodies and orchestral strings converge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's stunning fourth album. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett explore everything from the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic interweaving lines of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated dembow rhythms of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim