The Ten Finest International Releases of the Year 2025
As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the worldwide sounds that defied expectations. We explore ten notable albums that defined the year in music.
10. The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
An album consisting of a single, extended movement of repetitive drumming might not seem the most approachable listening experience. Yet, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this persistent pulse into a strangely alluring piece. Directing an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar develops a complex percussive dialect across the record's 10 movements. The album references the phasing techniques of Steve Reich as well as classical Indian rhythmic patterns, each grounded in the repetition of a persistent, thrumming motif. Over its duration, this refrain begins to emulate the hypnotic repetition of ritual music, luring the listener further into Korwar's singular percussive world.
Number Nine: Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
Coming off an eight-year break, Arab vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan returns with a melancholy set of songs. She expands on the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged sound that cemented her status in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the nineties. Hamdan's vocal delivery is quiet and introspective, singing soft melodies over the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop beat of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a quivering, yearning vocal technique against north African synth lines and skittering electronic percussion. The album's sound is sparse and subtle, yet this austerity provides the ideal setting for Hamdan's emotive compositions to shine through. It is well worth the wait.
8. Debit – Slowed Down
Mexican producer Debit has a knack for haunting reworkings of historical sounds. On her new album, Desaceleradas, she focuses on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dub-inflected take of the shuffling Latin American dance genre. Debit drags this sound even further, running its characteristic synths and off-beat rhythm via layers of sludge and noise to generate a new, sinister rhythm. At turns ambient and uneasy, Debit converts the exuberant dancefloor sound of cumbia into a lasting, ghostly echo.
7. The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Sheer intensity is the key term for the records of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a cacophony of sirens, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics over the classic Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This captures the energetic sound of favela street parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira escalates the energy, adding everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a notably hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute listening experience. Give in to the cacophony and Vieira's brash productions become unexpectedly exhilarating.
6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco music and Punjabi folk melodies is a newly appreciated gem. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an strikingly engaging blend of the metallic sound of early synthesizers and programmed drums with her fluid Indian classical vocal technique. Drum machine patterns mirrors the undulating tones of the tabla, while synthesiser melody parallels the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Elsewhere, bossa nova rhythm comes to the fore on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a driving funky bass rhythm. It's a club-ready hybrid pioneered over a decade before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music.
Number Five: Enji – Resonance
From Mongolia vocalist 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 background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs range from the gentle 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 lively, funk-inflected cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a full backing band rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still intimate, drawing the listener into the gentle soundscape of her singular voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – Yarın Yoksa
Inspired by the 60s heritage of Anatolian rock established by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's new album alongside her group blends the metallic twang of the amplified traditional lute with dreamy Mellotron and R&B-inflected lines. It's a nostalgic vibe grounded in Yıldırım's strong falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape aesthetic. Yet, on classic Turkish songs such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group reaches lively new territory. They craft slinking, downtempo grooves and lifting vocals that give a new, unconventional spin to the Turkish psych sound.
3. The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Sacred music, Eastern European folk melodies and symphonic arrangements merge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's remarkable latest work. Orchestrating 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
