This 10 Top International Records of 2025
As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the international sounds that defied expectations. Here is a countdown of ten notable albums that shaped the year in music.
Number Ten: The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
The concept of a 40-minute, uninterrupted piece built on cyclical percussion may not appear the easiest listening experience. However, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this driving beat into a strangely alluring piece. Directing an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar develops a intricate percussive dialect across the record's ten sections. The album channels Steve Reich's phasing motifs as well as classical Indian rhythmic patterns, all anchored in the recurrence of a persistent, pulsing motif. As the album progresses, this refrain begins to emulate the ceremonial rhythm of devotional music, pulling the listener deeper into Korwar's unique percussive realm.
9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
After an long absence, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a melancholy set of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-language, dub-influenced sound that cemented her status in the region's indie music scene since the nineties. Hamdan's vocal delivery is gentle and thoughtful, singing soft melodies atop the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rumbling trip-hop beat of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a trembling, yearning vibrato over north African synth lines and rattling electronic percussion. The album's sound is minimal and understated, yet this simplicity offers the perfect setting for Hamdan's deeply felt songwriting to take center stage. It is that justifies the wait.
8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down
Mexican electronic artist Debit specializes in haunting reimaginings of historical sounds. On her latest release, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dub-inflected interpretation of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit slows this sound even further, processing its characteristic synths and syncopated rhythm through layers of sludge and hiss to produce a novel, foreboding rhythm. Sometimes ambient and discomfiting, Debit transforms the exuberant party music of cumbia into a lasting, ethereal afterimage.
7. The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Sheer intensity is the defining principle for the music of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a onslaught of sirens, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the enduring Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the propulsive sound of favela street parties. On his follow-up release, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the intensity, incorporating everything from driving techno rhythms to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly manic and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute listening experience. Submit to the cacophony and Vieira's unapologetic productions become unexpectedly freeing.
6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco beats and traditional Punjabi tunes is a rediscovered masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an remarkably engaging fusion of the synthetic sound of early synthesizers and programmed drums with her fluid Indian classical singing style. Electronic percussion mimics the wavelike tones of the tabla, while synthesiser melody replicates the traditional 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 channels a driving walking disco bassline. It's a club-ready hybrid pioneered over a decade before the rise of Asian Underground music.
5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance
Mongolian singer Enji's gentle latest record, Sonor, develops her jazz-influenced sound to offer some of her most wide-ranging music so far. Stepping outside her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces range from the soft Norah Jones-esque melodics of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and twanging guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a lively, funk-inflected cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Featuring a live band rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains close, inviting the listener into the gentle soundscape of her singular voice.
4. Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow
Inspired by the 1960s legacy of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's latest work with her band Grup Şimşek merges the distinctive buzz of the amplified traditional lute with dreamy Mellotron and soulful tunes. It's a retro-70s aesthetic anchored in Yıldırım's commanding falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape sound. However, on Turkish standards such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group reaches lively new territory. They create sinuous, downtempo grooves and soaring vocals that impart a new, quirky twist to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
Number Three: Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Sacred music, Eastern European folk melodies and symphonic arrangements converge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's stunning fourth album. Arranging music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett journey through everything from the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim
