🔗 Share this article This Ten Best Global Records of the Year 2025 The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of worldwide releases that pushed boundaries. We explore ten remarkable albums that characterized the year in music. Number Ten: The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already An album consisting of a single, extended movement of repetitive drumming may not appear the easiest listening experience. Yet, south Asian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar turns this insistent rhythm into a strangely alluring album. Leading an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar develops a dense percussive vocabulary throughout the record's ten parts. The album references Steve Reich's phasing motifs as well as traditional Indian musical phrasing, all anchored in the repetition of a continual, thrumming motif. Over its duration, this refrain begins to emulate the ceremonial rhythm of ritual music, drawing the listener deeper into Korwar's distinctive percussive universe. 9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget Coming off an long absence, Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a mournful set of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged style that established her as a fixture in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is soft and thoughtful, singing soft melodies atop the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop groove of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a wavering, yearning vibrato against Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and rattling electronic percussion. The production is sparse and restrained, yet this austerity provides the perfect canvas for Hamdan's emotive songwriting to resonate. It is well worth the wait. 8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down Mexican electronic artist Debit excels at uncanny reimaginings of historical sounds. On her latest release, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dub-inflected interpretation of the shuffling Latin American musical style. Debit drags this sound down to a crawl, filtering its signature synths and syncopated rhythm through layers of sludge and static to create a novel, foreboding rhythm. Periodically ambient and uneasy, Debit morphs the exuberant dancefloor sound of cumbia into a enduring, ethereal afterimage. 7. The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio! Sensory overload is the operative word for the music of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a onslaught of alarms, explosive bass tones and screamed lyrics over the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This captures the driving sound of neighborhood block parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the intensity, incorporating everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly manic and punishingly loud forty-minute listening experience. Surrender to the noise and Vieira's brash productions become strangely freeing. Number Six: The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a newly appreciated masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks offer an strikingly captivating blend of the synthetic sound of early synthesizers and programmed drums with her ornate Indian classical singing style. Electronic percussion echoes the undulating tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody parallels the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, bossa nova rhythm comes to the fore on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a fast-paced walking disco bassline. It's a club-ready hybrid pioneered over a decade before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music. Number Five: Enji – Sonor Mongolian vocalist Enji's gentle latest record, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-influenced sound to offer some of her most wide-ranging music so far. Stepping outside her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs travel from the soft jazz-pop melodics of downtempo number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a sprightly, funk-tinged cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Featuring a ensemble rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay personal, pulling the listener into the tender acoustics of her distinctive voice. Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow Drawing on the psychedelic tradition of Anatolian rock established by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album alongside her group blends the distinctive buzz of the electrified saz with woozy keyboard and soulful tunes. It's a nostalgic vibe grounded in Yıldırım's commanding high register and influenced by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape aesthetic. However, on Turkish standards such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group ventures into dynamic new territory. They craft smooth, slow-burning grooves and powerful vocals that give a new, off-kilter spin to the Turkish psych sound. Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – The Beauty Gregorian chants, Eastern European folk melodies and symphonic arrangements merge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's stunning latest work. Arranging music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett traverse a vast range including the liturgical vocals of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated dembow rhythms of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of worldwide releases that pushed boundaries. We explore ten remarkable albums that characterized the year in music. Number Ten: The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already An album consisting of a single, extended movement of repetitive drumming may not appear the easiest listening experience. Yet, south Asian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar turns this insistent rhythm into a strangely alluring album. Leading an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar develops a dense percussive vocabulary throughout the record's ten parts. The album references Steve Reich's phasing motifs as well as traditional Indian musical phrasing, all anchored in the repetition of a continual, thrumming motif. Over its duration, this refrain begins to emulate the ceremonial rhythm of ritual music, drawing the listener deeper into Korwar's distinctive percussive universe. 9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget Coming off an long absence, Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a mournful set of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged style that established her as a fixture in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is soft and thoughtful, singing soft melodies atop the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop groove of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a wavering, yearning vibrato against Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and rattling electronic percussion. The production is sparse and restrained, yet this austerity provides the perfect canvas for Hamdan's emotive songwriting to resonate. It is well worth the wait. 8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down Mexican electronic artist Debit excels at uncanny reimaginings of historical sounds. On her latest release, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dub-inflected interpretation of the shuffling Latin American musical style. Debit drags this sound down to a crawl, filtering its signature synths and syncopated rhythm through layers of sludge and static to create a novel, foreboding rhythm. Periodically ambient and uneasy, Debit morphs the exuberant dancefloor sound of cumbia into a enduring, ethereal afterimage. 7. The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio! Sensory overload is the operative word for the music of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a onslaught of alarms, explosive bass tones and screamed lyrics over the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This captures the driving sound of neighborhood block parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the intensity, incorporating everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly manic and punishingly loud forty-minute listening experience. Surrender to the noise and Vieira's brash productions become strangely freeing. Number Six: The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a newly appreciated masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks offer an strikingly captivating blend of the synthetic sound of early synthesizers and programmed drums with her ornate Indian classical singing style. Electronic percussion echoes the undulating tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody parallels the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, bossa nova rhythm comes to the fore on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a fast-paced walking disco bassline. It's a club-ready hybrid pioneered over a decade before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music. Number Five: Enji – Sonor Mongolian vocalist Enji's gentle latest record, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-influenced sound to offer some of her most wide-ranging music so far. Stepping outside her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs travel from the soft jazz-pop melodics of downtempo number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a sprightly, funk-tinged cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Featuring a ensemble rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay personal, pulling the listener into the tender acoustics of her distinctive voice. Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow Drawing on the psychedelic tradition of Anatolian rock established by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album alongside her group blends the distinctive buzz of the electrified saz with woozy keyboard and soulful tunes. It's a nostalgic vibe grounded in Yıldırım's commanding high register and influenced by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape aesthetic. However, on Turkish standards such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group ventures into dynamic new territory. They craft smooth, slow-burning grooves and powerful vocals that give a new, off-kilter spin to the Turkish psych sound. Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – The Beauty Gregorian chants, Eastern European folk melodies and symphonic arrangements merge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's stunning latest work. Arranging music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett traverse a vast range including the liturgical vocals of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated dembow rhythms of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim