This Ten Best International Albums of the Year 2025
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of global music that defied expectations. We explore ten notable albums that defined the year in music.
10. Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
The concept of a 40-minute, uninterrupted piece built on cyclical drumming could sound like it isn't the easiest listening experience. Yet, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar transforms this insistent rhythm into a unexpectedly magnetic piece. Leading an trio of three drummers, Korwar develops a complex percussive dialect over the record's ten parts. The album references the phasing techniques of Steve Reich combined with traditional Indian musical phrasing, everything tethered in the reiteration of a ongoing, driving refrain. Over its duration, this refrain starts to mirror the hypnotic repetition of ritual music, pulling the listener deeper into Korwar's distinctive percussive universe.
9. Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
Coming off an long absence, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan re-emerges with a melancholy album of songs. She expands on the Arabic-language, dub-influenced aesthetic that cemented her status in the Arab alternative scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is soft and introspective, delivering 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 employs a wavering, yearning vibrato against electronic lines with North African flavors and clattering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is sparse and understated, yet this austerity offers the perfect setting for Hamdan's expressive lyricism to resonate. This is a record truly deserving of the long anticipation.
8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas
From Mexico producer Debit has a knack for uncanny reimaginings of historical sounds. On her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby version of the shuffling Latin American dance genre. Debit drags this sound to a near-halt, running its characteristic synths and syncopated rhythm through veils of distortion and hiss to create a fresh, menacing rhythm. Sometimes atmospheric and unsettling, Debit morphs the celebratory dancefloor sound of cumbia into a lasting, ghostly memory.
7. DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Sheer intensity is the defining principle for the output of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a onslaught of sirens, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the longstanding Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This emulates the propulsive sound of neighborhood block parties. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the ferocity, adding everything from driving techno rhythms to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly manic and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute sonic journey. Give in to the noise and Vieira's brash productions become unexpectedly freeing.
6. The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco music and Punjabi folk melodies is a reissued treasure. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an strikingly compelling fusion of the metallic sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her ornate classical Indian vocal technique. Electronic percussion mimics the wavelike tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody doubles 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 channels a fast-paced walking disco bassline. It's a club-ready hybrid pioneered over a decade before the rise of Asian Underground music.
Number Five: The Mongolian Artist Enji – Sonor
Mongolian singer Enji's gentle latest record, Sonor, expands on her jazz-influenced sound to present some of her most diverse music to date. Departing from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces veer from the gentle jazz-pop 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. Utilizing a ensemble rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains intimate, pulling the listener into the tender acoustics of her singular voice.
4. Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – Yarın Yoksa
Drawing on the 60s heritage of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's latest work alongside her group blends the metallic twang of the amplified traditional lute with dreamy Mellotron and soulful tunes. It's a retro-70s aesthetic rooted in Yıldırım's powerful high register and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated aesthetic. However, on classic Turkish songs such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group reaches lively new territory. They create smooth, downtempo grooves and lifting vocals that impart a new, quirky spin to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Gregorian chants, Czech harpsichord folksong and symphonic arrangements converge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's stunning latest work. Arranging music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett journey through a vast range including the liturgical vocals of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the theatrical counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim
