Our Ten Greatest International Releases of the Year 2025

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

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

A continuous, 40-minute suite of repetitive percussion might not seem the most approachable musical proposition. Yet, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this driving beat into a hypnotically captivating album. Leading an trio of three drummers, Korwar develops a dense percussive dialect throughout the record's ten sections. His composition channels minimalist concepts from Steve Reich as well as classical Indian rhythmic patterns, each grounded in the repetition of a persistent, driving figure. The longer one listens, this refrain begins to emulate the trance-inducing cycles of ritual music, luring the listener further into Korwar's unique percussive world.

Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget

After an hiatus of eight years, Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a melancholy set of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-language, dub-influenced style that cemented her status in the region's indie music scene since the nineties. Hamdan's vocal delivery is soft and introspective, singing delicate melodies over the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rumbling trip-hop groove of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a quivering, longing vocal technique over electronic lines with North African flavors and rattling electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is lean and understated, yet this simplicity offers the perfect setting for Hamdan's deeply felt songwriting to resonate. It is truly deserving of the wait.

8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas

From Mexico electronic artist Debit excels at uncanny reworkings of archival audio. On her new album, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby interpretation of the rhythmic Latin American dance genre. Debit drags this sound down to a crawl, processing its signature synths and off-beat rhythm through layers of sludge and hiss to create a new, sinister beat. Periodically ambient and discomfiting, Debit converts the celebratory dancefloor sound of cumbia into a lasting, ghostly afterimage.

7. DJ K – Liberator Radio!

Sensory overload is the operative word for the records of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K. Inventing his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a onslaught of sirens, pummeling bass tones and shouted lyrics over the enduring Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This recreates the propulsive sound of favela street parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the ferocity, adding everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly frenetic and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute listening experience. Surrender to the cacophony and Vieira's brash productions become unexpectedly liberating.

6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi

Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco music and traditional Punjabi tunes is a rediscovered gem. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an remarkably compelling blend of the sharp sound of early synthesizers and programmed drums with her melismatic classical Indian vocal technique. Drum machine patterns mimics the rolling tones of the tabla, while synth lines doubles the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, bossa nova rhythm is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a driving walking disco bassline. It's a dancefloor fusion delivered over a decade before the Asian Underground explosion.

Number Five: Enji – Sonor

Mongolian singer Enji's soft new release, Sonor, expands on her jazz-inflected sound to present some of her most wide-ranging music to date. Departing from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces range from the soft Norah Jones-esque melodies of downtempo number Ulbar to the German-language narration lyrics and twanging guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a energetic, funk-tinged cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a live band rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still personal, drawing the listener into the tender soundscape of her distinctive voice.

4. Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – Yarın Yoksa

Channeling the psychedelic tradition of Anatolian rock established by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's third record with her band Grup Şimşek fuses the electric jangle of the electrified saz with drifting keyboard and soulful tunes. It's a retro-70s aesthetic rooted in Yıldırım's powerful high register and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. However, on classic Turkish songs such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group ventures into dynamic new territory. They craft slinking, slow-burning grooves and lifting vocals that give a new, quirky interpretation to the Anatolian psychedelic style.

3. Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Gregorian chants, Eastern European folk melodies and symphonic arrangements converge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary latest work. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett journey through everything from the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the theatrical counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated dembow rhythms of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim