The 10 Best International Records of the Year 2025
Looking back on the musical landscape of international releases that defied expectations. Here is a countdown of ten notable albums that shaped the year in music.
10. Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
An album consisting of a single, extended movement of repetitive percussion may not appear the most approachable musical proposition. But, Indian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar turns this driving beat into a unexpectedly magnetic work. Leading an trio of three drummers, Korwar develops a dense percussive vocabulary throughout the record's ten sections. The work references the phasing techniques of Steve Reich combined with Indian classical phrasing, everything tethered in the reiteration of a ongoing, pulsing figure. The longer one listens, this refrain begins to emulate the ceremonial rhythm of devotional music, drawing the listener deeper into Korwar's distinctive percussive world.
Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
Following an long absence, Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan returns with a contemplative collection of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged aesthetic that cemented her status in the Arab alternative scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is gentle and ruminative, delivering tender melodies atop the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rumbling trip-hop beat of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a quivering, longing vibrato against electronic lines with North African flavors and rattling electronic percussion. The album's sound is minimal and subtle, yet this minimalism creates the ideal setting for Hamdan's deeply felt lyricism to take center stage. This is a record well worth the wait.
Number Eight: Debit – Slowed Down
From Mexico electronic artist Debit specializes in haunting reworkings of traditional music. For her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby version of the rhythmic Latin American dance music genre. Debit slows this sound even further, running its signature synths and off-beat rhythm through layers of distortion and noise to produce a fresh, foreboding beat. Sometimes ambient and unsettling, Debit transforms the exuberant party music of cumbia into a persistent, spectral memory.
Number Seven: DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Sensory overload is the key term for the records of São Paulo 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 screamed lyrics over the enduring Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This captures the energetic sound of neighborhood block parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira escalates the intensity, adding everything from techno kick drums to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a especially hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute sonic journey. Submit to the assault and Vieira's brash productions become strangely freeing.
Number Six: Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco music and Punjabi folk melodies is a newly appreciated masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an unusually engaging blend of the synthetic sound of electronic keyboards and drum machines with her ornate Indian classical vocal technique. Electronic percussion echoes the rolling tones of the tabla, while synthesiser melody replicates 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 disco bass groove. It's a party blend delivered more than ten years before the rise of Asian Underground music.
Number Five: Enji – Resonance
Mongolian vocalist Enji's soft fourth album, Sonor, develops her jazz-inflected sound to offer some of her most diverse music yet. Departing from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks range from the soft jazz-pop melodies of downtempo number Ulbar to the German-language narration lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a energetic, funk-tinged cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a live band rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains personal, pulling the listener into the tender acoustics of her distinctive voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow
Channeling the 1960s legacy of Turkish psychedelia established by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's new album alongside her group fuses the metallic twang of the amplified traditional lute with dreamy Mellotron and soulful tunes. It's a nostalgic vibe anchored in Yıldırım's powerful high register and shaped by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape sound. However, on classic Turkish songs such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group reaches lively new territory. They develop sinuous, slow-burning grooves and powerful vocals that give a fresh, quirky spin to the Turkish psych sound.
3. Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Gregorian chants, Czech harpsichord folksong and symphonic arrangements merge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's remarkable fourth album. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett traverse everything from the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated dembow rhythms of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim
