The 10 Finest International Albums of the Year 2025
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of worldwide music that expanded horizons. We explore ten notable albums that defined the year in music.
Number Ten: Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
An album consisting of a single, extended movement of insistent percussion may not appear the easiest listening experience. However, south Asian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar transforms this persistent pulse into a unexpectedly magnetic piece. Directing an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar crafts a dense percussive dialect throughout the record's ten parts. His composition channels minimalist concepts from Steve Reich alongside classical Indian rhythmic patterns, everything tethered in the repetition of a ongoing, thrumming motif. As the album progresses, this refrain begins to emulate the trance-inducing cycles of devotional music, luring the listener further into Korwar's singular percussive realm.
9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
Following an eight-year break, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a contemplative set of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged sound that made her a staple in the Arab alternative scene since the nineties. Hamdan's voice is gentle and thoughtful, singing tender melodies over the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rumbling trip-hop groove of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a quivering, yearning vibrato over north African synth lines and clattering electronic percussion. The production is lean and subtle, yet this austerity creates the ideal setting for Hamdan's deeply felt compositions to take center stage. The album proves to be truly deserving of the long anticipation.
8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas
Mexican producer Debit excels at haunting reimaginings of archival audio. For her latest release, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby interpretation of the rhythmic Latin American dance music genre. Debit slows this sound to a near-halt, processing its signature synths and syncopated rhythm via sheets of murk and hiss to create a fresh, sinister beat. Sometimes ambient and unsettling, Debit morphs the joyous party music of cumbia into a enduring, spectral echo.
7. DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Sheer intensity is the operative word for the music of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a cacophony of sirens, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the longstanding Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This emulates the driving sound of neighborhood block parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the intensity, incorporating everything from driving techno rhythms to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly manic and overwhelmingly noisy forty-minute sonic journey. Surrender to the cacophony and Vieira's bold productions become unexpectedly liberating.
Number Six: Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco music and traditional Punjabi tunes is a rediscovered masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an unusually captivating fusion of the synthetic sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her melismatic classical Indian singing style. Drum machine patterns mirrors the rolling 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 takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a up-tempo walking disco bassline. It's a dancefloor fusion created over a decade before the rise of Asian Underground music.
5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance
From Mongolia singer Enji's delicate latest record, Sonor, develops her jazz-inflected sound to present some of her most diverse music so far. Moving away from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks travel from the soft jazz-pop melodics of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German spoken-word 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. Utilizing a ensemble rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains personal, drawing the listener into the tender acoustics of her unique voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – If There Is No Tomorrow
Inspired by the 60s heritage of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup Şimşek fuses the electric jangle of the electrified saz with drifting Mellotron and classic soul melodies. It's a nostalgic vibe grounded in Yıldırım's commanding high register and influenced by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape aesthetic. However, on Turkish standards such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group reaches vibrant new territory. They create smooth, slow-burning grooves and soaring vocals that lend a fresh, unconventional interpretation to the Turkish psych sound.
3. Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Catholic requiem mass music, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings converge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's stunning fourth album. Arranging music for the sixty-member Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett traverse everything from the liturgical vocals of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the theatrical counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated dembow rhythms of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim
