This 10 Most Outstanding International Records of 2025
As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the global sounds that defied expectations. Here is a countdown of ten notable albums that defined the year in music.
10. The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
An album consisting of a single, extended movement of cyclical drumming could sound like it isn't the easiest musical proposition. But, Indian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar turns this persistent pulse into a strangely alluring work. Guiding an group of three drummers, Korwar creates a intricate percussive language throughout the record's ten sections. The work draws from the phasing techniques of Steve Reich alongside traditional Indian musical phrasing, everything tethered in the recurrence of a continual, pulsing refrain. The longer one listens, this refrain begins to emulate the trance-inducing cycles of devotional music, luring the listener further into Korwar's singular percussive universe.
Number Nine: Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
Following an long absence, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a melancholy collection of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-language, dub-tinged aesthetic that made her a staple in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the nineties. Hamdan's voice is quiet and introspective, singing tender melodies over the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rumbling trip-hop beat of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a wavering, longing vocal technique over Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and clattering electronic percussion. The album's sound is sparse and restrained, yet this austerity offers the perfect setting for Hamdan's emotive compositions to shine through. It is well worth the wait.
Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas
Mexican electronic artist Debit has a knack for eerie reimaginings of archival audio. On her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she focuses on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby version of the shuffling Latin American dance music genre. Debit decelerates this sound down to a crawl, processing its signature synths and off-beat rhythm via veils of murk and static to produce a novel, sinister groove. Periodically atmospheric and uneasy, Debit morphs the celebratory party music of cumbia into a persistent, ghostly echo.
Number Seven: DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Maximalism is the defining principle for the records of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a tumult of alarms, pummeling bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This captures the propulsive sound of favela street parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the ferocity, incorporating everything from driving techno rhythms to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute sonic journey. Submit to the cacophony and Vieira's bold productions become unexpectedly exhilarating.
6. The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a reissued gem. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an unusually captivating blend of the metallic sound of electronic keyboards and programmed drums with her fluid Indian classical singing style. Drum machine patterns echoes the rolling tones of the tabla, while synthesiser melody parallels the classic sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, Latin-inflected grooves takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a fast-paced disco bass groove. 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 delicate new release, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-inflected sound to offer some of her most diverse music yet. Stepping outside her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs travel from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodies of downtempo number Ulbar to the German-language narration lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a energetic, funk-tinged 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 remains intimate, pulling the listener into the tender soundscape of her distinctive voice.
4. Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – If There Is No Tomorrow
Channeling the 1960s legacy of Turkish psychedelia established by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's latest work alongside her group blends the electric jangle of the electrified saz with drifting keyboard and R&B-inflected lines. It's a retro-70s aesthetic grounded in Yıldırım's strong falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape sound. However, on Turkish standards such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group reaches vibrant new territory. They craft smooth, downtempo grooves and soaring vocals that lend a new, unconventional spin to the Turkish psych sound.
3. Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Sacred music, Eastern European folk melodies and symphonic arrangements converge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's stunning latest work. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett traverse everything from the liturgical vocals of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the theatrical interweaving lines of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim
