The 10 Best International Records of 2025
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of worldwide music that defied expectations. Here is a countdown of ten exceptional albums that defined the year in music.
Number Ten: The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
A continuous, 40-minute suite of cyclical percussion may not appear the most approachable musical proposition. Yet, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar transforms this insistent rhythm into a strangely alluring piece. Leading an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar crafts a complex percussive vocabulary over the record's ten parts. The work references Steve Reich's phasing motifs as well as traditional Indian musical phrasing, everything tethered in the repetition of a continual, driving motif. As the album progresses, this refrain starts to mirror the ceremonial rhythm of ritual music, drawing the listener further into Korwar's distinctive percussive universe.
Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
After an eight-year break, Arab vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a contemplative album of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-sung, dub-influenced aesthetic that established her as a fixture in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is quiet and ruminative, 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 uses a wavering, longing vocal technique against electronic lines with North African flavors and skittering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is minimal and understated, yet this minimalism creates the perfect setting for Hamdan's deeply felt lyricism to shine through. It is truly deserving of the long anticipation.
Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down
From Mexico electronic artist Debit excels at haunting reimaginings of historical sounds. For her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby interpretation of the rhythmic Latin American dance genre. Debit drags this sound to a near-halt, filtering its signature synths and off-beat rhythm via layers of murk and noise to create a new, foreboding groove. Periodically ambient and unsettling, Debit morphs the exuberant dancefloor sound of cumbia into a enduring, ghostly echo.
7. The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Radio Libertadora!
Sheer intensity is the operative word for the music of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a tumult of sirens, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics over the enduring Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This recreates the propulsive sound of urban celebrations. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira escalates the intensity, adding everything from techno kick drums to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly manic and overwhelmingly noisy forty-minute listening experience. Submit to the assault and Vieira's unapologetic productions become unexpectedly exhilarating.
Number Six: Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco music and traditional Punjabi tunes is a rediscovered treasure. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an remarkably compelling fusion of the sharp sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her melismatic Indian classical singing style. Drum machine patterns mirrors the rolling tones of the traditional drums, while synth lines doubles the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Elsewhere, Latin-inflected grooves takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a fast-paced funky bass rhythm. It's a dancefloor fusion delivered more than ten years before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music.
5. Enji – Sonor
From Mongolia vocalist Enji's gentle new release, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-influenced sound to deliver some of her most diverse 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 melodics of downtempo number Ulbar to the German-language narration 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. Showcasing a live band rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still close, pulling the listener into the tender acoustics of her distinctive voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow
Channeling the 60s heritage of Anatolian rock established by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's latest work with her band Grup Şimşek fuses the metallic twang of the electrified saz with dreamy keyboard and R&B-inflected lines. It's a nostalgic vibe grounded 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, slow-burning grooves and soaring vocals that lend a fresh, quirky spin to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
3. The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Sacred music, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings all come together on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's stunning fourth album. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett traverse a vast range including the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the theatrical counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic dembow rhythms of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim
