Our Ten Top International Records of 2025

The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of worldwide music that defied expectations. Presenting a selection of ten exceptional albums that defined the year in music.

10. The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already

The concept of a 40-minute, uninterrupted piece built on insistent percussion might not seem the easiest musical proposition. But, Indian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar converts this driving beat into a unexpectedly magnetic work. Leading an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar develops a complex percussive dialect across the record's 10 movements. The album channels minimalist concepts from Steve Reich as well as Indian classical phrasing, everything tethered in the reiteration of a continual, pulsing refrain. As the album progresses, this refrain starts to mirror the ceremonial rhythm of ritual music, drawing the listener deeper into Korwar's unique percussive world.

9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember

After an long absence, Arab singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan re-emerges with a melancholy album of songs. She expands on the Arabic-sung, dub-influenced aesthetic that established her as a fixture in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is soft and ruminative, delivering soft melodies over the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop groove of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a trembling, yearning vibrato over electronic lines with North African flavors and clattering electronic percussion. The production is minimal and subtle, yet this austerity provides the ideal environment for Hamdan's emotive compositions to shine through. The album proves to be that justifies the long anticipation.

Number Eight: Debit – Slowed Down

From Mexico electronic artist Debit excels at eerie reinterpretations of historical sounds. For her latest release, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby version of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit slows this sound even further, processing its signature synths and off-beat rhythm via layers of distortion and noise to create a fresh, menacing beat. Sometimes ambient and unsettling, Debit transforms the celebratory party music of cumbia into a enduring, ethereal memory.

Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio!

Sheer intensity is the operative word for the music of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a onslaught of alarms, explosive bass tones and screamed lyrics over the longstanding Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This recreates the energetic sound of neighborhood block parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira escalates the energy, incorporating everything from driving techno rhythms to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a especially manic and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute sonic journey. Surrender to the cacophony and Vieira's bold productions become strangely exhilarating.

6. The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco

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 offer an unusually captivating fusion of the metallic sound of early synthesizers and programmed drums with her fluid Indian classical vocal technique. Drum machine patterns mimics the wavelike tones of the tabla, while synthesiser melody doubles the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Elsewhere, bossa nova rhythm is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a driving disco bass groove. It's a party blend pioneered over a decade before the Asian Underground explosion.

5. Enji – Sonor

Mongolian singer Enji's soft fourth album, Sonor, expands on her jazz-influenced sound to offer some of her most diverse music so far. Stepping outside her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks range from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodics of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German-language narration lyrics and twanging guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a energetic, funk-inflected cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Showcasing a ensemble rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains close, inviting the listener into the warm soundscape of her distinctive voice.

4. Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – Yarın Yoksa

Inspired by the 60s heritage of Anatolian rock established by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's latest work alongside her group merges the electric jangle of the electrified saz with dreamy Mellotron and soulful tunes. It's a retro-70s aesthetic anchored in Yıldırım's powerful falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. But, on Turkish standards such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group reaches vibrant new territory. They craft slinking, downtempo grooves and soaring vocals that give a novel, quirky twist to the Turkish psych sound.

3. The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – The Beauty

Catholic requiem mass music, Eastern European folk melodies and orchestral strings merge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's stunning latest work. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett journey through a vast range including the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic interweaving lines of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic reggaeton-inspired beats of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim