Our 10 Best Global Albums of 2025
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of international sounds that pushed boundaries. We explore ten exceptional albums that defined the year in music.
10. The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
A continuous, 40-minute suite of insistent percussion might not seem the most approachable musical proposition. Yet, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this insistent rhythm into a strangely alluring work. Guiding an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar develops a dense percussive dialect throughout the record's ten parts. The work draws from minimalist concepts from Steve Reich alongside Indian classical phrasing, each grounded in the recurrence of a ongoing, driving figure. As the album progresses, this refrain begins to emulate the hypnotic repetition of ceremonial music, luring the listener deeper into Korwar's singular percussive realm.
9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
After an long absence, Arab singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan returns with a mournful album of songs. She expands on the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged sound that cemented her status in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is gentle and ruminative, singing tender melodies atop the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop groove of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a trembling, yearning vocal technique over Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and clattering electronic percussion. The album's sound is lean and understated, yet this minimalism provides the ideal environment for Hamdan's emotive lyricism to shine through. It is truly deserving of the long anticipation.
Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down
From Mexico producer Debit specializes in eerie reinterpretations of traditional music. On her latest release, Desaceleradas, she focuses on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby take of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit decelerates this sound to a near-halt, running its signature synths and off-beat rhythm via layers of sludge and static to create a new, sinister rhythm. At turns atmospheric and discomfiting, Debit transforms the exuberant party music of cumbia into a enduring, ghostly echo.
Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Maximalism is the defining principle for the output of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a cacophony of sirens, pummeling bass tones and shouted lyrics over the classic Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This emulates the propulsive sound of urban celebrations. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira escalates the intensity, incorporating everything from driving techno rhythms to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly frenetic and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute sonic journey. Give in to the noise and Vieira's unapologetic productions become strangely exhilarating.
Number Six: The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco music and traditional Punjabi tunes is a newly appreciated gem. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an remarkably engaging blend of the sharp sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her ornate classical Indian singing style. Drum machine patterns mirrors the wavelike tones of the traditional drums, while synth lines replicates the traditional sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Elsewhere, Latin-inflected grooves takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a up-tempo walking disco bassline. It's a club-ready hybrid pioneered over a decade before the rise of Asian Underground music.
5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Sonor
From Mongolia singer Enji's delicate fourth album, Sonor, expands on her jazz-influenced sound to deliver some of her most wide-ranging music yet. Stepping outside her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks travel 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 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 warm soundscape of her unique voice.
4. Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – Yarın Yoksa
Inspired by the psychedelic tradition of Turkish psychedelia established by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's new album alongside her group merges the distinctive buzz of the electrified saz with drifting keyboard and soulful tunes. It's a 1970s throwback sound anchored in Yıldırım's commanding falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. But, on Turkish standards such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group ventures into dynamic new territory. They craft smooth, slow-burning grooves and powerful vocals that give a new, off-kilter interpretation to the Turkish psych sound.
Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Gregorian chants, Eastern European folk melodies and symphonic arrangements merge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary latest work. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett explore 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 dembow rhythms of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim
