Our Ten Finest Global Albums of 2025
As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the global sounds that defied expectations. We explore ten exceptional albums that defined the year in music.
Number Ten: The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
A continuous, 40-minute suite of cyclical percussion may not appear the most approachable listening experience. However, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this persistent pulse into a unexpectedly magnetic work. Directing an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar crafts a dense percussive language throughout the record's ten sections. His composition channels minimalist concepts from Steve Reich alongside classical Indian rhythmic patterns, everything tethered in the repetition of a persistent, pulsing refrain. As the album progresses, this refrain begins to emulate the ceremonial rhythm of ceremonial music, pulling the listener deeper into Korwar's distinctive percussive realm.
Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
Coming off an long absence, Arab singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a contemplative album of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-language, dub-influenced aesthetic that made her a staple in the region's indie music scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is soft and ruminative, delivering delicate melodies over the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rumbling trip-hop groove of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a quivering, yearning vibrato over Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and skittering electronic percussion. The production is minimal and restrained, yet this austerity provides the perfect setting for Hamdan's expressive songwriting to shine through. This is a record well worth the wait.
Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas
Mexican producer Debit has a knack for uncanny reimaginings of traditional music. For her latest release, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby interpretation of the shuffling Latin American dance genre. Debit decelerates this sound down to a crawl, processing its characteristic synths and syncopated rhythm via veils of murk and static to create a novel, foreboding groove. Periodically ambient and unsettling, Debit transforms the joyous party music of cumbia into a enduring, ghostly echo.
7. DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Sheer intensity is the defining principle for the music of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a cacophony of sirens, pummeling bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This emulates the propulsive sound of neighborhood block parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the energy, incorporating everything from driving techno rhythms to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly hyperactive and punishingly loud forty-minute listening experience. Give in to the noise and Vieira's bold productions become unexpectedly freeing.
6. The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco music and traditional Punjabi tunes is a rediscovered treasure. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an unusually compelling blend of the sharp sound of 1980s synthesisers and programmed drums with her fluid classical Indian vocal technique. Electronic percussion echoes the wavelike tones of the tabla, while synthesiser melody replicates the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Elsewhere, Latin-inflected grooves comes to the fore on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a driving funky bass rhythm. It's a club-ready hybrid pioneered over a decade before the Asian Underground explosion.
Number Five: Enji – Sonor
Mongolian vocalist Enji's soft latest record, Sonor, expands on her jazz-inflected sound to present some of her most diverse music to date. Stepping outside her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces veer from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodics 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 usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay personal, pulling the listener into the gentle soundscape of her distinctive voice.
4. Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – Yarın Yoksa
Channeling the psychedelic tradition of Anatolian rock established by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album alongside her group merges the metallic twang of the amplified traditional lute with dreamy Mellotron and soulful tunes. It's a nostalgic vibe anchored in Yıldırım's strong high register and influenced by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape aesthetic. But, on classic Turkish songs such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group finds dynamic new territory. They craft sinuous, downtempo grooves and powerful vocals that impart a novel, unconventional twist to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
3. Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Sacred music, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings merge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary latest work. Arranging 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 rhythmic dembow rhythms of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim