This Ten Greatest Global Albums of 2025
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of worldwide music that defied expectations. Presenting a selection of ten exceptional albums that defined the year in music.
Number Ten: Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
An album consisting of a single, extended movement of cyclical percussion might not seem the most accessible musical proposition. But, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this driving beat into a strangely alluring album. Guiding an group of three drummers, Korwar crafts a dense percussive vocabulary over the record's 10 movements. The work draws from the phasing techniques of Steve Reich alongside Indian classical phrasing, all anchored in the recurrence of a continual, thrumming refrain. As the album progresses, this refrain begins to emulate the hypnotic repetition of ceremonial music, drawing the listener further into Korwar's singular percussive world.
Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
Following an hiatus of eight years, Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a contemplative collection of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-language, dub-tinged aesthetic that cemented her status in the Arab alternative scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is quiet and thoughtful, delivering soft melodies over the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop beat of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a trembling, yearning vibrato against Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and clattering electronic percussion. The production is sparse and subtle, yet this simplicity provides the ideal canvas for Hamdan's deeply felt lyricism to shine through. This is a record truly deserving of the wait.
8. Debit – Slowed Down
Mexican producer Debit specializes in eerie reworkings of traditional music. For her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she focuses on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dub-inflected take of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit decelerates this sound down to a crawl, running its characteristic synths and syncopated rhythm via veils of sludge and hiss to generate a fresh, sinister groove. At turns atmospheric and unsettling, Debit converts the joyous party music of cumbia into a persistent, ethereal afterimage.
Number Seven: DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Maximalism is the defining principle for the records of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a cacophony of sirens, pummeling bass tones and screamed lyrics over the longstanding Brazilian genre of baile funk. This emulates the propulsive sound of favela street parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the ferocity, adding everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly frenetic and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute sonic journey. Surrender to the cacophony and Vieira's unapologetic productions become strangely liberating.
Number Six: Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco music and Punjabi folk melodies is a rediscovered masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an unusually captivating fusion of the sharp sound of 1980s synthesisers and programmed drums with her ornate classical Indian singing style. Electronic percussion mimics the rolling tones of the traditional drums, while synth lines replicates the classic sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. At other times, bossa nova rhythm takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a fast-paced disco bass groove. It's a dancefloor fusion pioneered over a decade before the rise of Asian Underground music.
5. Enji – Sonor
From Mongolia singer Enji's gentle new release, Sonor, develops her jazz-inflected sound to deliver some of her most diverse music so far. Stepping outside her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks travel from the soft jazz-pop melodies of downtempo number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and twanging guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a lively, funk-tinged cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a ensemble rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still close, pulling the listener into the warm soundscape of her singular voice.
4. Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – Yarın Yoksa
Channeling the 60s heritage of Anatolian rock established by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's latest work with her band Grup Şimşek blends the distinctive buzz of the electrified saz with dreamy Mellotron and classic soul melodies. It's a nostalgic vibe rooted in Yıldırım's commanding high register and shaped by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape sound. Yet, 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, downtempo grooves and powerful vocals that give a new, unconventional interpretation to the Turkish psych sound.
3. The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Sacred music, Czech harpsichord folksong and symphonic arrangements merge on Colombian-born 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 liturgical vocals of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic dembow rhythms of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim
