The Ten Most Outstanding International Records of 2025
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of global releases that expanded horizons. Presenting a selection of ten notable albums that defined the year in music.
10. The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
The concept of a 40-minute, uninterrupted piece built on repetitive drumming may not appear the most approachable listening experience. Yet, Indian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar transforms this driving beat into a hypnotically captivating album. Leading an group of three drummers, Korwar creates a intricate percussive dialect throughout the record's 10 movements. His composition draws from the phasing techniques of Steve Reich alongside classical Indian rhythmic patterns, each grounded in the recurrence of a ongoing, driving refrain. The longer one listens, this refrain begins to emulate the trance-inducing cycles of ritual music, pulling the listener further into Korwar's singular percussive universe.
Number Nine: Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
Coming off an hiatus of eight years, Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan re-emerges with a mournful album of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-language, dub-influenced style that cemented her status in the Arab alternative scene since the nineties. Hamdan's vocal delivery is gentle and introspective, delivering delicate melodies atop the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop groove of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a trembling, longing vibrato against north African synth lines and skittering electronic percussion. The production is sparse and restrained, yet this austerity offers the ideal canvas for Hamdan's emotive songwriting to resonate. It is well worth the wait.
Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down
From Mexico producer Debit has a knack for haunting reworkings of archival audio. For her latest release, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby interpretation of the rhythmic Latin American dance music genre. Debit drags this sound even further, processing its signature synths and off-beat rhythm via layers of sludge and noise to create a new, foreboding groove. Periodically ambient and unsettling, Debit converts the exuberant party music of cumbia into a lasting, ghostly memory.
Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Sheer intensity is the defining principle for the records of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a cacophony of alarms, pummeling bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the energetic sound of favela street parties. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the ferocity, adding everything from techno kick drums to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a notably hyperactive and deafeningly intense 40-minute listening experience. Surrender to the noise and Vieira's bold productions become unexpectedly freeing.
6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco music and traditional Punjabi tunes is a reissued gem. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an strikingly captivating combination of the sharp sound of early synthesizers and drum machines with her fluid classical Indian vocal technique. Electronic percussion mimics the wavelike tones of the tabla, while synth lines doubles the classic sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. At other times, Latin-inflected grooves comes to the fore on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a fast-paced funky bass rhythm. It's a club-ready hybrid created over a decade before the Asian Underground explosion.
5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Sonor
From Mongolia singer Enji's gentle latest record, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-influenced sound to present some of her most wide-ranging music to date. Stepping outside her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks travel from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodics of downtempo 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. Featuring a live band rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay intimate, drawing the listener into the warm acoustics of her unique voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – Yarın Yoksa
Channeling the 60s heritage of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's third record with her band Grup Şimşek blends the metallic twang of the amplified traditional lute with drifting Mellotron and classic soul melodies. It's a nostalgic vibe grounded in Yıldırım's strong falsetto and shaped by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape sound. However, on Turkish standards such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group ventures into dynamic new territory. They craft sinuous, downtempo grooves and soaring vocals that give a novel, quirky spin to the Turkish psych sound.
Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Gregorian chants, Czech harpsichord folksong and symphonic arrangements all come together on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's remarkable latest work. Orchestrating music for the sixty-member 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 counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim
