The Ten Best International Albums of the Year 2025
Looking back on the musical landscape of international sounds that defied expectations. Here is a countdown of ten notable albums that defined the year in music.
10. Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
The concept of a 40-minute, uninterrupted piece built on repetitive percussion may not appear the easiest listening experience. However, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar turns this insistent rhythm into a hypnotically captivating piece. Directing an group of three drummers, Korwar creates a dense percussive language over the record's ten sections. His composition channels minimalist concepts from Steve Reich as well as Indian classical phrasing, all anchored in the reiteration of a continual, thrumming figure. As the album progresses, this refrain starts to mirror the ceremonial rhythm of devotional music, drawing the listener further into Korwar's unique percussive realm.
9. Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
After an hiatus of eight years, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan returns with a melancholy set of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-language, dub-influenced sound that cemented her status in the Arab alternative scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is quiet and introspective, delivering soft melodies atop the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rumbling trip-hop beat of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a trembling, longing vibrato against electronic lines with North African flavors and clattering electronic percussion. The production is lean and subtle, yet this simplicity provides the ideal environment for Hamdan's expressive lyricism to resonate. This is a record well worth the wait.
8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down
From Mexico producer Debit specializes in haunting reimaginings of traditional music. On her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dub-inflected version of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit drags this sound down to a crawl, running its characteristic synths and syncopated rhythm through layers of distortion and noise to generate a fresh, foreboding beat. Periodically ambient and unsettling, Debit converts the joyous dancefloor sound of cumbia into a persistent, ghostly echo.
Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Sheer intensity is the defining principle for the output of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a tumult of alarms, pummeling bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This captures the propulsive sound of favela street parties. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the ferocity, throwing in everything from driving techno rhythms to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute listening experience. Surrender to the cacophony and Vieira's brash productions become unexpectedly liberating.
Number Six: The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco music and Punjabi folk melodies is a reissued masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks offer an unusually compelling blend of the sharp sound of 1980s synthesisers and programmed drums with her melismatic classical Indian vocal technique. Drum machine patterns echoes the rolling tones of the tabla, while synth lines doubles the classic sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, Latin-inflected grooves is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a driving funky bass rhythm. It's a dancefloor fusion delivered more than ten years before the rise of Asian Underground music.
Number Five: Enji – Resonance
Mongolian vocalist Enji's delicate fourth album, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-influenced sound to offer some of her most diverse music yet. Moving away from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces veer from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodies of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German-language narration lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a energetic, funk-inflected cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Featuring a ensemble rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still close, inviting the listener into the tender soundscape of her unique voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow
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 electric jangle of the electrified saz with dreamy Mellotron and classic soul melodies. It's a nostalgic vibe grounded in Yıldırım's commanding high register and influenced by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape sound. Yet, on Turkish standards such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group ventures into lively new territory. They create smooth, downtempo grooves and powerful vocals that lend a fresh, quirky spin to the Turkish psych sound.
3. The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Catholic requiem mass music, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings all come together on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's stunning fourth album. Arranging 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 reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim
