Our Ten Greatest International Albums of the Year 2025
Looking back on the musical landscape of worldwide releases that defied expectations. Presenting a selection of ten remarkable albums that characterized the year in music.
Number Ten: Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
A continuous, 40-minute suite of cyclical drumming may not appear the most approachable musical proposition. Yet, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar transforms this persistent pulse into a hypnotically captivating album. Guiding an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar develops a dense percussive vocabulary over the record's 10 movements. His composition channels Steve Reich's phasing motifs alongside traditional Indian musical phrasing, everything tethered in the repetition of a continual, pulsing refrain. As the album progresses, this refrain begins to emulate the ceremonial rhythm of ritual music, pulling the listener further into Korwar's distinctive percussive world.
9. Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
Following an long absence, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a contemplative set of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-language, dub-influenced aesthetic that cemented her status in the Arab alternative scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is quiet and introspective, singing soft melodies over the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rumbling trip-hop groove of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a wavering, longing vibrato against north African synth lines and skittering electronic percussion. The album's sound is minimal and subtle, yet this simplicity provides the ideal setting for Hamdan's expressive compositions to shine through. This is a record truly deserving of the wait.
8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas
From Mexico electronic artist Debit has a knack for eerie reimaginings of archival audio. For her new album, Desaceleradas, she focuses on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dub-inflected version of the shuffling Latin American dance music genre. Debit slows this sound even further, processing its signature synths and syncopated rhythm through sheets of sludge and noise to create a new, foreboding groove. At turns ambient and uneasy, Debit transforms the joyous dancefloor sound of cumbia into a enduring, ghostly afterimage.
Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Radio Libertadora!
Sheer intensity is the key term for the output of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a tumult of alarms, explosive bass tones and screamed lyrics over the longstanding Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This captures the propulsive sound of urban celebrations. On his follow-up release, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the intensity, adding everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly manic and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute sonic journey. Give in to the noise and Vieira's unapologetic productions become strangely liberating.
Number Six: Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a newly appreciated masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an unusually compelling combination of the sharp sound of 1980s synthesisers and programmed drums with her ornate Indian classical vocal technique. Drum machine patterns mirrors the rolling tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody replicates the classic sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, bossa nova rhythm is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a driving funky bass rhythm. It's a club-ready hybrid delivered over a decade before the Asian Underground explosion.
5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance
Mongolian vocalist Enji's delicate new release, Sonor, develops her jazz-influenced sound to deliver some of her broadest music so far. Stepping outside her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces range from the gentle jazz-pop melodies of downtempo 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 standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay personal, drawing the listener into the warm acoustics of her distinctive voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – Yarın Yoksa
Drawing on the 1960s legacy of Turkish psychedelia pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup Şimşek fuses the metallic twang of the amplified traditional lute with woozy keyboard and R&B-inflected lines. It's a nostalgic vibe grounded in Yıldırım's strong falsetto and shaped by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape sound. But, on Turkish standards such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group ventures into vibrant new territory. They develop smooth, downtempo grooves and soaring vocals that impart a new, unconventional spin to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Gregorian chants, Eastern European folk melodies and symphonic arrangements merge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary latest work. Arranging 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 counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim
