This Ten Greatest Worldwide Albums of the Year 2025
As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the global sounds that defied expectations. Here is a countdown of ten exceptional albums that characterized the year in music.
10. Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
A continuous, 40-minute suite of insistent drumming may not appear the easiest listening experience. But, south Asian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar transforms this insistent rhythm into a hypnotically captivating work. Directing an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar develops a intricate percussive dialect over the record's 10 movements. The work references minimalist concepts from Steve Reich alongside Indian classical phrasing, everything tethered in the recurrence of a ongoing, thrumming refrain. The longer one listens, this refrain starts to mirror the hypnotic repetition of ritual music, luring the listener deeper into Korwar's singular percussive world.
Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
After an long absence, Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan returns with a contemplative set of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-sung, dub-influenced style that made her a staple in the Arab alternative scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is gentle and thoughtful, delivering delicate melodies over the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop beat of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she adopts a wavering, yearning vibrato against Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and clattering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is minimal and understated, yet this simplicity offers the perfect canvas for Hamdan's expressive songwriting to shine through. This is a record truly deserving of the wait.
Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas
Mexican electronic artist Debit excels at haunting reworkings of archival audio. For her new album, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby take of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit decelerates this sound down to a crawl, processing its signature synths and off-beat rhythm via sheets of distortion and hiss to produce a new, sinister rhythm. Sometimes ambient and uneasy, Debit converts the celebratory party music of cumbia into a enduring, ghostly afterimage.
Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Maximalism is the key term for the music of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Inventing his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a tumult of sirens, pummeling bass tones and screamed lyrics over the classic Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This recreates the energetic sound of urban celebrations. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the energy, incorporating everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a notably manic and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute sonic journey. Give in to the cacophony and Vieira's bold productions become oddly freeing.
Number Six: Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco music and traditional Punjabi tunes is a newly appreciated masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an unusually captivating combination of the synthetic sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her fluid classical Indian vocal technique. Electronic percussion mirrors the wavelike tones of the tabla, while synthesiser melody doubles the traditional sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. At other times, Latin-inflected grooves comes to the fore on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a fast-paced walking disco bassline. It's a party blend created more than ten years before the rise of Asian Underground music.
Number Five: Enji – Resonance
From Mongolia singer Enji's soft latest record, Sonor, expands on her jazz-influenced sound to deliver some of her most wide-ranging music so far. Moving away from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs range from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodies of downtempo number Ulbar to the German-language narration lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a sprightly, funk-inflected cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Featuring a ensemble rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still close, inviting the listener into the warm acoustics of her singular voice.
4. Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – Yarın Yoksa
Inspired by the psychedelic tradition of Turkish psychedelia pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup Şimşek merges the metallic twang of the electrified saz with woozy keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a 1970s throwback sound anchored in Yıldırım's commanding falsetto and shaped by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape aesthetic. Yet, on Turkish standards such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group ventures into vibrant new territory. They create sinuous, slow-burning grooves and lifting vocals that impart a fresh, off-kilter twist to the Turkish psych sound.
Number Three: Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Gregorian chants, Czech harpsichord folksong and symphonic arrangements converge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary latest work. Arranging music for the sixty-member Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett explore a vast range including the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic reggaeton-inspired beats of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim
