Our Ten Greatest Worldwide Albums of the Year 2025
As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the worldwide music that expanded horizons. Presenting a selection of ten remarkable albums that defined the year in music.
10. The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
The concept of a 40-minute, uninterrupted piece built on insistent percussion might not seem the most accessible musical proposition. But, Indian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar converts this persistent pulse into a hypnotically captivating album. Leading an trio of three drummers, Korwar creates a intricate percussive dialect over the record's 10 movements. The album references Steve Reich's phasing motifs alongside Indian classical phrasing, everything tethered in the reiteration of a ongoing, driving refrain. Over its duration, this refrain begins to emulate the ceremonial rhythm of devotional music, pulling the listener deeper into Korwar's unique percussive realm.
Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
Following an long absence, Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a melancholy set of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-sung, dub-influenced aesthetic that established her as a fixture in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the nineties. Hamdan's voice is soft and thoughtful, singing soft melodies atop the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop groove of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a quivering, yearning vocal technique against Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and clattering electronic percussion. The album's sound is lean and restrained, yet this minimalism offers the ideal environment for Hamdan's emotive lyricism to resonate. This is a record truly deserving of the long anticipation.
Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down
From Mexico electronic artist Debit specializes in haunting reimaginings of historical sounds. On her new album, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dub-inflected interpretation of the shuffling Latin American musical style. Debit decelerates this sound to a near-halt, filtering its signature synths and off-beat rhythm through sheets of sludge and noise to produce a fresh, sinister groove. At turns atmospheric and unsettling, Debit converts the joyous dancefloor sound of cumbia into a lasting, spectral echo.
7. The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Sheer intensity is the key term for the records of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a onslaught of sirens, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics over the enduring Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the driving sound of favela street parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the energy, adding everything from techno kick drums to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a especially frenetic and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute listening experience. Submit to the assault and Vieira's bold productions become unexpectedly exhilarating.
6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco music and traditional Punjabi tunes is a reissued treasure. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an remarkably compelling fusion of the sharp sound of early synthesizers and drum machines with her melismatic Indian classical singing style. Drum machine patterns mirrors the wavelike tones of the tabla, while synth lines doubles the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. At other times, bossa nova rhythm is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a driving walking disco bassline. It's a club-ready hybrid delivered over a decade before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music.
5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance
From Mongolia singer Enji's soft fourth album, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-inflected sound to present some of her most wide-ranging music to date. Moving away from her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks veer from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodies of downtempo number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and twanging guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a sprightly, funk-tinged cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a ensemble rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay intimate, drawing the listener into the gentle soundscape of her distinctive voice.
4. Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – Yarın Yoksa
Inspired by the 60s heritage of Turkish psychedelia pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's third record alongside her group blends the distinctive buzz of the electrified saz with drifting Mellotron and classic soul melodies. It's a retro-70s aesthetic rooted in Yıldırım's powerful falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape sound. Yet, on Turkish standards such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group ventures into dynamic new territory. They develop slinking, slow-burning grooves and soaring vocals that lend a new, off-kilter interpretation to the Turkish psych sound.
3. Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Gregorian chants, Eastern European folk melodies and orchestral strings all come together on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's remarkable fourth album. Arranging music for the sixty-member Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett traverse everything from the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic dembow rhythms of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim
