This 10 Best International Albums of the Year 2025
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of worldwide music that defied expectations. Here is a countdown of ten remarkable albums that shaped the year in music.
10. The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
A continuous, 40-minute suite of repetitive drumming could sound like it isn't the most accessible musical proposition. Yet, Indian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar converts this driving beat into a hypnotically captivating piece. Leading an group of three drummers, Korwar crafts a complex percussive dialect over the record's 10 movements. The work references Steve Reich's phasing motifs alongside Indian classical phrasing, all anchored in the reiteration of a ongoing, driving figure. The longer one listens, this refrain begins to emulate the ceremonial rhythm of ritual music, pulling the listener further into Korwar's unique percussive universe.
9. Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
Coming off an hiatus of eight years, Arab singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan re-emerges with a contemplative collection of songs. She expands on the Arabic-language, dub-influenced aesthetic that cemented her status in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the nineties. Hamdan's voice is soft and introspective, singing tender melodies over the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop beat of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she adopts a wavering, longing vocal technique against electronic lines with North African flavors and clattering electronic percussion. The production is lean and understated, yet this austerity offers the ideal environment for Hamdan's deeply felt compositions to resonate. This is a record that justifies the wait.
Number Eight: Debit – Slowed Down
From Mexico producer Debit has a knack for haunting reinterpretations of historical sounds. On her latest release, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dub-inflected interpretation of the shuffling Latin American dance music genre. Debit slows this sound even further, filtering its signature synths and syncopated rhythm via sheets of distortion and hiss to create a new, menacing groove. At turns ambient and uneasy, Debit transforms the celebratory dancefloor sound of cumbia into a enduring, ethereal memory.
Number Seven: DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Sheer intensity is the operative word for the output of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a cacophony of sirens, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the longstanding Brazilian genre of baile funk. This captures the driving sound of urban celebrations. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira escalates the energy, adding everything from driving techno rhythms to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly manic and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute sonic journey. Submit to the noise and Vieira's bold productions become oddly exhilarating.
Number Six: Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release 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 unusually compelling blend of the synthetic sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her ornate classical Indian vocal technique. Electronic percussion mirrors the undulating tones of the tabla, while synthesiser melody parallels the traditional sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, Latin-inflected grooves takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a driving walking disco bassline. It's a dancefloor fusion pioneered more than ten years before the rise of Asian Underground music.
5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance
From Mongolia singer Enji's gentle fourth album, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-inflected sound to deliver 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 downtempo number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and twanging guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a energetic, funk-tinged cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Featuring a full backing band rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains personal, drawing the listener into the tender soundscape of her distinctive voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – If There Is No Tomorrow
Inspired by the psychedelic tradition of Turkish psychedelia pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's third record alongside her group blends the metallic twang of the amplified traditional lute with drifting Mellotron and soulful tunes. It's a nostalgic vibe grounded in Yıldırım's commanding high register and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated aesthetic. But, on classic Turkish songs such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group reaches dynamic new territory. They develop smooth, downtempo grooves and soaring vocals that lend a new, off-kilter interpretation to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
Number Three: Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Gregorian chants, Eastern European folk melodies and symphonic arrangements converge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary latest work. Orchestrating music for the sixty-member 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 syncopated reggaeton-inspired beats of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim
