The Ten Greatest International Records of 2025
Looking back on the musical landscape of international releases that defied expectations. Here is a countdown of ten remarkable albums that defined the year in music.
Number Ten: The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
An album consisting of a single, extended movement of insistent drumming might not seem the most accessible listening experience. Yet, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this driving beat into a hypnotically captivating work. Leading an group of three drummers, Korwar develops a dense percussive language across the record's ten sections. His composition draws from the phasing techniques of Steve Reich combined with Indian classical phrasing, everything tethered in the reiteration of a ongoing, pulsing motif. As the album progresses, this refrain starts to mirror the hypnotic repetition of ritual music, drawing the listener further into Korwar's unique percussive world.
9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
After an long absence, Arab singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan returns with a mournful collection of songs. She expands on the Arabic-language, dub-influenced style that established her as a fixture in the region's indie music scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is gentle and introspective, singing delicate melodies over the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop groove of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she adopts a trembling, yearning vocal technique against electronic lines with North African flavors and skittering electronic percussion. The album's sound is sparse and subtle, yet this austerity provides the perfect environment for Hamdan's expressive songwriting to take center stage. The album proves to be truly deserving of the long anticipation.
Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas
From Mexico electronic artist Debit has a knack for uncanny reworkings of historical sounds. On her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby version of the rhythmic Latin American dance genre. Debit decelerates this sound to a near-halt, filtering its signature synths and off-beat rhythm through sheets of distortion and noise to create a novel, sinister groove. Sometimes ambient and uneasy, Debit converts the joyous party music of cumbia into a enduring, ghostly memory.
Number Seven: DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Maximalism is the defining principle for the output of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a onslaught of alarms, pummeling bass tones and shouted lyrics over the enduring Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This recreates the driving sound of favela street parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the energy, throwing in everything from techno kick drums to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a notably hyperactive and deafeningly intense forty-minute listening experience. Give in to the cacophony and Vieira's bold productions become strangely exhilarating.
6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a rediscovered masterpiece. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks offer an remarkably captivating fusion of the sharp sound of electronic keyboards and drum machines with her fluid classical Indian singing style. Electronic percussion mirrors 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, bossa nova rhythm takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a fast-paced funky bass rhythm. It's a dancefloor fusion delivered more than ten years before the Asian Underground explosion.
5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance
From Mongolia vocalist Enji's gentle fourth album, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-inflected sound to deliver some of her most diverse music yet. Stepping outside her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs 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 lively, funk-tinged 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 is still intimate, pulling the listener into the gentle soundscape of her unique voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow
Drawing on the 60s heritage of Turkish psychedelia pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's latest work alongside her group blends the electric jangle of the electrified saz with dreamy keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a retro-70s aesthetic rooted in Yıldırım's commanding high register and influenced by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape sound. Yet, on classic Turkish songs such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group finds vibrant new territory. They create smooth, downtempo grooves and lifting vocals that give a fresh, unconventional interpretation to the Turkish psych sound.
Number Three: Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Sacred music, Eastern European folk melodies and symphonic arrangements converge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary latest work. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett journey through 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 reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim
