🔗 Share this article The Ten Greatest International Albums of the Year 2025 The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of global sounds that expanded horizons. Presenting a selection of ten remarkable albums that defined the year in music. Number Ten: 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 easiest listening experience. However, Indian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar converts this persistent pulse into a strangely alluring piece. Guiding an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar crafts a intricate percussive language across the record's 10 movements. His composition channels the phasing techniques of Steve Reich alongside Indian classical phrasing, everything tethered in the repetition of a persistent, driving figure. As the album progresses, this refrain begins to emulate the hypnotic repetition of ritual music, pulling the listener further into Korwar's distinctive percussive realm. Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember After an eight-year break, Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan returns with a contemplative collection of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-language, dub-tinged sound that established her as a fixture in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is quiet and introspective, delivering tender melodies over the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop beat of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a trembling, yearning vocal technique against electronic lines with North African flavors and clattering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is minimal and subtle, yet this austerity offers the perfect canvas for Hamdan's deeply felt compositions to shine through. It is well worth the wait. Number Eight: Debit – Desaceleradas Mexican producer Debit specializes in haunting reinterpretations of traditional music. On her latest release, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby version of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit decelerates this sound even further, running its characteristic synths and syncopated rhythm through veils of distortion and static to produce a new, menacing rhythm. At turns ambient and uneasy, Debit morphs the exuberant party music of cumbia into a persistent, ethereal afterimage. 7. DJ K – Liberator Radio! Sheer intensity is the operative word for the output of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a tumult of alarms, pummeling bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the longstanding Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the driving sound of urban celebrations. On his follow-up release, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira escalates the ferocity, throwing in everything from techno kick drums to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly manic and punishingly loud forty-minute listening experience. Give in to the cacophony and Vieira's bold productions become oddly exhilarating. 6. The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a rediscovered treasure. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an remarkably captivating blend of the sharp sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her melismatic Indian classical vocal technique. Drum machine patterns echoes the rolling tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody parallels the classic sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, bossa nova rhythm comes to the fore on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a up-tempo funky bass rhythm. It's a dancefloor fusion created more than ten years before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music. Number Five: The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance From Mongolia vocalist Enji's gentle latest record, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-inflected sound to offer some of her most diverse music yet. Stepping outside her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces travel from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodies of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a energetic, funk-inflected cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Showcasing a ensemble rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains personal, pulling the listener into the gentle acoustics of her distinctive voice. 4. Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – If There Is No Tomorrow Drawing on the 60s heritage of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup Şimşek blends the electric jangle of the electrified saz with drifting keyboard and R&B-inflected lines. It's a nostalgic vibe anchored in Yıldırım's commanding falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated aesthetic. Yet, on Turkish standards such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group ventures into vibrant new territory. They create sinuous, downtempo grooves and soaring vocals that lend a fresh, unconventional twist to the Anatolian psychedelic style. 3. 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 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 interweaving lines of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic dembow rhythms of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of global sounds that expanded horizons. Presenting a selection of ten remarkable albums that defined the year in music. Number Ten: 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 easiest listening experience. However, Indian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar converts this persistent pulse into a strangely alluring piece. Guiding an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar crafts a intricate percussive language across the record's 10 movements. His composition channels the phasing techniques of Steve Reich alongside Indian classical phrasing, everything tethered in the repetition of a persistent, driving figure. As the album progresses, this refrain begins to emulate the hypnotic repetition of ritual music, pulling the listener further into Korwar's distinctive percussive realm. Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember After an eight-year break, Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan returns with a contemplative collection of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-language, dub-tinged sound that established her as a fixture in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is quiet and introspective, delivering tender melodies over the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop beat of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a trembling, yearning vocal technique against electronic lines with North African flavors and clattering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is minimal and subtle, yet this austerity offers the perfect canvas for Hamdan's deeply felt compositions to shine through. It is well worth the wait. Number Eight: Debit – Desaceleradas Mexican producer Debit specializes in haunting reinterpretations of traditional music. On her latest release, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby version of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit decelerates this sound even further, running its characteristic synths and syncopated rhythm through veils of distortion and static to produce a new, menacing rhythm. At turns ambient and uneasy, Debit morphs the exuberant party music of cumbia into a persistent, ethereal afterimage. 7. DJ K – Liberator Radio! Sheer intensity is the operative word for the output of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a tumult of alarms, pummeling bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the longstanding Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the driving sound of urban celebrations. On his follow-up release, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira escalates the ferocity, throwing in everything from techno kick drums to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly manic and punishingly loud forty-minute listening experience. Give in to the cacophony and Vieira's bold productions become oddly exhilarating. 6. The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a rediscovered treasure. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an remarkably captivating blend of the sharp sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her melismatic Indian classical vocal technique. Drum machine patterns echoes the rolling tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody parallels the classic sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, bossa nova rhythm comes to the fore on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a up-tempo funky bass rhythm. It's a dancefloor fusion created more than ten years before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music. Number Five: The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance From Mongolia vocalist Enji's gentle latest record, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-inflected sound to offer some of her most diverse music yet. Stepping outside her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces travel from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodies of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a energetic, funk-inflected cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Showcasing a ensemble rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains personal, pulling the listener into the gentle acoustics of her distinctive voice. 4. Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – If There Is No Tomorrow Drawing on the 60s heritage of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup Şimşek blends the electric jangle of the electrified saz with drifting keyboard and R&B-inflected lines. It's a nostalgic vibe anchored in Yıldırım's commanding falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated aesthetic. Yet, on Turkish standards such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group ventures into vibrant new territory. They create sinuous, downtempo grooves and soaring vocals that lend a fresh, unconventional twist to the Anatolian psychedelic style. 3. 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 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 interweaving lines of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic dembow rhythms of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim