🔗 Share this article This 10 Greatest International Records of the Year 2025 As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the global music that defied expectations. We explore ten exceptional 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 insistent drumming may not appear the most approachable listening experience. But, south Asian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar turns this persistent pulse into a hypnotically captivating album. Directing an group of three drummers, Korwar crafts a dense percussive dialect across the record's 10 movements. The work draws from minimalist concepts from Steve Reich as well as traditional Indian musical phrasing, all anchored in the repetition of a continual, thrumming motif. Over its duration, this refrain evokes the trance-inducing cycles of ritual music, drawing the listener further into Korwar's unique percussive realm. 9. Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget After an long absence, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan returns with a contemplative set of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-language, dub-influenced aesthetic that cemented her status in the region's indie music scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is gentle and introspective, delivering soft melodies over the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop beat of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she adopts a quivering, longing vocal technique against electronic lines with North African flavors and clattering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is lean and restrained, yet this austerity creates the ideal environment for Hamdan's emotive compositions to take center stage. It is that justifies the long anticipation. Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas Mexican electronic artist Debit has a knack for haunting reinterpretations of historical sounds. For her latest release, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby interpretation of the rhythmic Latin American dance genre. Debit decelerates this sound to a near-halt, running its signature synths and off-beat rhythm through sheets of murk and hiss to produce a fresh, sinister groove. At turns atmospheric and uneasy, Debit morphs the joyous party music of cumbia into a enduring, ethereal afterimage. Number Seven: DJ K – Radio Libertadora! Maximalism is the defining principle for the records of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K. Inventing his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a tumult of sirens, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics over the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This emulates the driving sound of neighborhood block 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 chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a especially hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy forty-minute listening experience. Give in to the cacophony and Vieira's bold productions become strangely freeing. 6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco music and traditional Punjabi tunes is a newly appreciated masterpiece. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an remarkably compelling blend of the metallic sound of early synthesizers and drum machines with her fluid classical Indian vocal technique. Electronic percussion echoes the undulating tones of the tabla, while synth lines replicates the classic sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, Latin-inflected grooves comes to the fore on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a driving walking disco bassline. It's a club-ready hybrid created more than ten years before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music. 5. Enji – Sonor Mongolian singer Enji's gentle fourth album, Sonor, expands on her jazz-influenced sound to deliver some of her most wide-ranging music so far. Moving away from her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks travel from the gentle jazz-pop melodics of downtempo 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 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a full backing band rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains intimate, pulling the listener into the warm acoustics of her singular voice. Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow Inspired by 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 merges the metallic twang of the electrified saz with drifting keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a nostalgic vibe rooted in Yıldırım's strong falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated aesthetic. However, on Turkish standards such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group finds dynamic new territory. They develop sinuous, downtempo grooves and powerful vocals that give a novel, quirky spin to the Turkish psych sound. 3. Lido Pimienta – The Beauty Sacred music, Eastern European folk melodies and orchestral strings merge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's stunning latest work. Orchestrating music for the sixty-member Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett explore a vast range including the liturgical vocals 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 brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim
As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the global music that defied expectations. We explore ten exceptional 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 insistent drumming may not appear the most approachable listening experience. But, south Asian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar turns this persistent pulse into a hypnotically captivating album. Directing an group of three drummers, Korwar crafts a dense percussive dialect across the record's 10 movements. The work draws from minimalist concepts from Steve Reich as well as traditional Indian musical phrasing, all anchored in the repetition of a continual, thrumming motif. Over its duration, this refrain evokes the trance-inducing cycles of ritual music, drawing the listener further into Korwar's unique percussive realm. 9. Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget After an long absence, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan returns with a contemplative set of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-language, dub-influenced aesthetic that cemented her status in the region's indie music scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is gentle and introspective, delivering soft melodies over the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop beat of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she adopts a quivering, longing vocal technique against electronic lines with North African flavors and clattering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is lean and restrained, yet this austerity creates the ideal environment for Hamdan's emotive compositions to take center stage. It is that justifies the long anticipation. Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas Mexican electronic artist Debit has a knack for haunting reinterpretations of historical sounds. For her latest release, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby interpretation of the rhythmic Latin American dance genre. Debit decelerates this sound to a near-halt, running its signature synths and off-beat rhythm through sheets of murk and hiss to produce a fresh, sinister groove. At turns atmospheric and uneasy, Debit morphs the joyous party music of cumbia into a enduring, ethereal afterimage. Number Seven: DJ K – Radio Libertadora! Maximalism is the defining principle for the records of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K. Inventing his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a tumult of sirens, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics over the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This emulates the driving sound of neighborhood block 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 chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a especially hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy forty-minute listening experience. Give in to the cacophony and Vieira's bold productions become strangely freeing. 6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco music and traditional Punjabi tunes is a newly appreciated masterpiece. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an remarkably compelling blend of the metallic sound of early synthesizers and drum machines with her fluid classical Indian vocal technique. Electronic percussion echoes the undulating tones of the tabla, while synth lines replicates the classic sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, Latin-inflected grooves comes to the fore on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a driving walking disco bassline. It's a club-ready hybrid created more than ten years before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music. 5. Enji – Sonor Mongolian singer Enji's gentle fourth album, Sonor, expands on her jazz-influenced sound to deliver some of her most wide-ranging music so far. Moving away from her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks travel from the gentle jazz-pop melodics of downtempo 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 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a full backing band rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains intimate, pulling the listener into the warm acoustics of her singular voice. Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow Inspired by 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 merges the metallic twang of the electrified saz with drifting keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a nostalgic vibe rooted in Yıldırım's strong falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated aesthetic. However, on Turkish standards such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group finds dynamic new territory. They develop sinuous, downtempo grooves and powerful vocals that give a novel, quirky spin to the Turkish psych sound. 3. Lido Pimienta – The Beauty Sacred music, Eastern European folk melodies and orchestral strings merge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's stunning latest work. Orchestrating music for the sixty-member Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett explore a vast range including the liturgical vocals 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 brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim