This 10 Top Global Records of the Year 2025
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of international music that pushed boundaries. Presenting a selection of ten exceptional albums that characterized the year in music.
Number Ten: The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
An album consisting of a single, extended movement of insistent percussion may not appear the easiest listening experience. Yet, Indian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar converts this persistent pulse into a hypnotically captivating piece. Guiding an group of three drummers, Korwar develops a dense percussive dialect throughout the record's ten sections. His composition channels minimalist concepts from Steve Reich combined with traditional Indian musical phrasing, each grounded in the recurrence of a persistent, pulsing figure. The longer one listens, this refrain starts to mirror the hypnotic repetition of ritual music, luring the listener further into Korwar's unique percussive world.
9. Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
After an hiatus of eight years, Arab singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a contemplative set of songs. She expands on the Arabic-language, dub-tinged aesthetic that made her a staple in the Arab alternative scene since the nineties. Hamdan's vocal delivery is gentle and thoughtful, delivering tender melodies atop the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop beat of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a wavering, longing vocal technique against electronic lines with North African flavors and rattling electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is minimal and restrained, yet this minimalism offers the ideal environment for Hamdan's deeply felt songwriting to take center stage. The album proves to be well worth the long anticipation.
8. Debit – Slowed Down
From Mexico electronic artist Debit specializes in eerie reinterpretations of traditional music. For her new album, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dub-inflected interpretation of the rhythmic Latin American dance music genre. Debit drags this sound down to a crawl, filtering its signature synths and syncopated rhythm via veils of distortion and static to generate a novel, menacing groove. Sometimes atmospheric and unsettling, Debit converts the celebratory party music of cumbia into a persistent, spectral memory.
Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Radio Libertadora!
Sheer intensity is the operative word for the output of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a cacophony of alarms, explosive bass tones and screamed lyrics over the longstanding Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the energetic sound of neighborhood block parties. On his follow-up release, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira escalates the intensity, incorporating everything from driving techno rhythms to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a especially manic and overwhelmingly noisy forty-minute listening experience. Surrender to the noise and Vieira's bold productions become oddly liberating.
Number Six: Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco music and traditional Punjabi tunes is a rediscovered treasure. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an remarkably engaging blend of the metallic sound of 1980s synthesisers and programmed drums with her melismatic classical Indian singing style. Electronic percussion mirrors the undulating tones of the traditional drums, while synth lines doubles the traditional sound of the harmonium 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 features a up-tempo funky bass rhythm. It's a party blend delivered more than ten years before the rise of Asian Underground music.
Number Five: The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance
Mongolian singer Enji's gentle latest record, Sonor, expands on her jazz-influenced sound to deliver some of her most diverse music to date. Departing from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs travel from the soft jazz-pop melodies of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German-language narration lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a lively, funk-tinged cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Showcasing a full backing band rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains intimate, inviting the listener into the tender soundscape of her singular voice.
4. Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – If There Is No Tomorrow
Drawing on the 60s heritage of Turkish psychedelia established by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's latest work with her band Grup Şimşek fuses the metallic twang of the amplified traditional lute with woozy keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a 1970s throwback sound rooted in Yıldırım's commanding falsetto and shaped by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated aesthetic. Yet, on classic Turkish songs such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group finds vibrant new territory. They create slinking, slow-burning grooves and lifting vocals that impart a fresh, quirky twist to the Turkish psych sound.
3. Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Sacred music, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings converge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary fourth album. Arranging music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett traverse a vast range including the liturgical vocals of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated dembow rhythms of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim
