Our 10 Greatest International Releases of 2025
Looking back on the musical landscape of worldwide releases that expanded horizons. Here is a countdown of ten exceptional albums that defined the year in music.
10. The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
A continuous, 40-minute suite of repetitive percussion might not seem the most accessible musical proposition. However, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar turns this driving beat into a unexpectedly magnetic album. Directing an trio of three drummers, Korwar develops a intricate percussive language throughout the record's ten parts. The work references Steve Reich's phasing motifs combined with classical Indian rhythmic patterns, all anchored in the repetition of a continual, pulsing motif. Over its duration, this refrain evokes the ceremonial rhythm of devotional music, luring the listener deeper into Korwar's distinctive percussive universe.
Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
Following an hiatus of eight years, Arab singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan re-emerges with a contemplative collection of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-language, dub-tinged aesthetic that made her a staple in the region's indie music scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is soft and ruminative, delivering tender melodies atop the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop beat of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she adopts a trembling, yearning vibrato against electronic lines with North African flavors and clattering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is sparse and understated, yet this simplicity creates the ideal setting for Hamdan's emotive compositions to take center stage. The album proves to be truly deserving of the long anticipation.
8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas
From Mexico producer Debit has a knack for haunting reinterpretations of traditional music. For her latest release, Desaceleradas, she focuses on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby interpretation of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit drags this sound down to a crawl, filtering its signature synths and off-beat rhythm via layers of sludge and hiss to create a fresh, menacing groove. Sometimes atmospheric and discomfiting, Debit morphs the joyous dancefloor sound of cumbia into a enduring, ghostly memory.
Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Radio Libertadora!
Maximalism is the operative word for the output of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a tumult of alarms, explosive bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the longstanding Brazilian genre of baile funk. This emulates the energetic sound of neighborhood block parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the intensity, throwing in everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a notably frenetic and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute listening experience. Surrender to the cacophony and Vieira's brash productions become unexpectedly freeing.
6. The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a reissued treasure. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an unusually compelling blend of the metallic sound of early synthesizers and drum machines with her ornate Indian classical vocal technique. Electronic percussion mirrors the wavelike tones of the tabla, while synth lines replicates the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. At other times, Latin-inflected grooves is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a driving funky bass rhythm. It's a dancefloor fusion pioneered more than ten years before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music.
Number Five: Enji – Resonance
Mongolian vocalist Enji's soft fourth album, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-inflected sound to offer some of her most diverse music so far. Moving away from her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs travel from the soft Norah Jones-esque melodies of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and twanging guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a sprightly, 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 is still close, drawing the listener into the tender soundscape of her distinctive voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow
Channeling the 60s heritage of Anatolian rock established by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup Şimşek merges the distinctive buzz of the electrified saz with woozy keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a 1970s throwback sound grounded in Yıldırım's powerful falsetto and shaped by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. But, on Turkish standards such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group ventures into vibrant new territory. They create sinuous, downtempo grooves and lifting vocals that give a new, unconventional twist to the Turkish psych sound.
Number Three: Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Catholic requiem mass music, Czech harpsichord folksong and symphonic arrangements converge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's stunning latest work. Arranging 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 theatrical interweaving lines of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated dembow rhythms of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim
