This 10 Most Outstanding International Records of the Year 2025

As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the international music that pushed boundaries. Presenting a selection of ten notable albums that shaped the year in music.

Number Ten: Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already

The concept of a 40-minute, uninterrupted piece built on insistent drumming could sound like it isn't the most accessible listening experience. Yet, Indian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar transforms this insistent rhythm into a strangely alluring work. Leading an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar develops a intricate percussive dialect across the record's ten sections. His composition draws from the phasing techniques of Steve Reich combined with traditional Indian musical phrasing, everything tethered in the recurrence of a persistent, thrumming figure. The longer one listens, this refrain begins to emulate the ceremonial rhythm of ceremonial music, drawing the listener further into Korwar's distinctive percussive realm.

Number Nine: Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember

After an long absence, Arab vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan returns with a contemplative set of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-language, dub-tinged aesthetic that made her a staple in the Arab alternative scene since the nineties. Hamdan's voice is soft and introspective, singing delicate melodies atop the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rumbling trip-hop beat of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a quivering, longing vibrato against north African synth lines and rattling electronic percussion. The album's sound is lean and restrained, yet this simplicity creates the ideal setting for Hamdan's expressive songwriting to shine through. It is truly deserving of the wait.

Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas

From Mexico producer Debit specializes in haunting reimaginings of traditional music. For her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dub-inflected version of the shuffling Latin American musical style. Debit drags this sound to a near-halt, processing its characteristic synths and off-beat rhythm via layers of distortion and noise to produce a novel, sinister rhythm. At turns atmospheric and uneasy, Debit converts the celebratory dancefloor sound of cumbia into a persistent, spectral echo.

7. DJ K – Radio Libertadora!

Sensory overload 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 stacks a tumult of sirens, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the longstanding Brazilian genre of baile funk. This captures the energetic sound of urban celebrations. On his follow-up release, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the energy, adding everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a especially hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy forty-minute sonic journey. Give in to the assault and Vieira's unapologetic productions become unexpectedly liberating.

6. The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco

Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco beats and traditional Punjabi tunes is a newly appreciated masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks offer an remarkably compelling blend of the synthetic sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her fluid Indian classical singing style. Electronic percussion mirrors the wavelike tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody parallels the classic sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. At other times, Latin-inflected grooves takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a driving disco bass groove. It's a club-ready hybrid pioneered over a decade before the Asian Underground explosion.

5. Enji – Sonor

From Mongolia vocalist Enji's soft new release, Sonor, develops her jazz-influenced sound to deliver some of her broadest music so far. Departing from her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs veer from the soft jazz-pop melodies of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and twanging guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a lively, funk-inflected cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a live band rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains intimate, inviting the listener into the warm soundscape of her distinctive voice.

4. Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow

Inspired by the psychedelic tradition of Anatolian rock established by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's third record alongside her group fuses the metallic twang of the electrified saz with dreamy Mellotron and R&B-inflected lines. It's a nostalgic vibe rooted in Yıldırım's powerful high register and shaped by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape sound. However, on classic Turkish songs such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group ventures into lively new territory. They create smooth, slow-burning grooves and soaring vocals that give a fresh, unconventional interpretation to the Turkish psych sound.

3. Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Gregorian chants, Eastern European folk melodies and orchestral strings merge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's remarkable latest work. Arranging music for the sixty-member Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett explore a vast range including the liturgical vocals of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the theatrical counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated dembow rhythms of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim