Our 10 Greatest Worldwide Records of 2025

Looking back on the musical landscape of global music that defied expectations. Presenting a selection of ten remarkable albums that characterized the year in music.

Number Ten: Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty

A continuous, 40-minute suite of repetitive percussion could sound like it isn't the most approachable listening experience. Yet, south Asian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar turns this persistent pulse into a unexpectedly magnetic work. Leading an group of three drummers, Korwar develops a complex percussive vocabulary throughout the record's ten sections. The work draws from Steve Reich's phasing motifs alongside classical Indian rhythmic patterns, each grounded in the repetition of a ongoing, pulsing motif. The longer one listens, this refrain begins to emulate the ceremonial rhythm of ritual music, pulling the listener deeper into Korwar's singular percussive world.

Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget

After an long absence, Arab vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan re-emerges with a contemplative collection of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged aesthetic that made her a staple in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the nineties. Hamdan's vocal delivery is soft and introspective, delivering delicate melodies atop the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rumbling trip-hop beat of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a wavering, yearning vibrato against north African synth lines and skittering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is minimal and understated, yet this austerity creates the ideal setting for Hamdan's deeply felt compositions to resonate. The album proves to be truly deserving of the wait.

Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas

From Mexico producer Debit specializes in uncanny reinterpretations of archival audio. On her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby take of the shuffling Latin American dance music genre. Debit drags this sound down to a crawl, filtering its signature synths and syncopated rhythm via sheets of sludge and noise to create a fresh, menacing groove. Periodically atmospheric and unsettling, Debit converts the exuberant party music of cumbia into a enduring, ethereal echo.

Number Seven: DJ K – Liberator Radio!

Sensory overload is the key term for the music of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a onslaught of sirens, pummeling bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the enduring Brazilian genre of baile funk. This emulates the energetic sound of urban celebrations. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the ferocity, adding everything from driving techno rhythms to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy forty-minute listening experience. Give in to the assault and Vieira's brash productions become unexpectedly liberating.

6. The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi

Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco music and Punjabi folk melodies is a newly appreciated masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks offer an unusually engaging fusion of the synthetic sound of electronic keyboards and drum machines with her ornate classical Indian vocal technique. Drum machine patterns mimics the rolling tones of the traditional drums, while synth lines parallels the traditional sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Elsewhere, bossa nova rhythm is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a driving funky bass rhythm. It's a party blend pioneered over a decade before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music.

5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance

From Mongolia vocalist Enji's delicate new release, Sonor, develops her jazz-influenced sound to present some of her most diverse music yet. Departing from her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces 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. Utilizing a ensemble rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains personal, drawing the listener into the tender soundscape of her unique voice.

Number Four: Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – If There Is No Tomorrow

Inspired by the psychedelic tradition of Turkish psychedelia pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's latest work with her band Grup Şimşek fuses the metallic twang of the amplified traditional lute with drifting Mellotron and classic soul melodies. It's a nostalgic vibe rooted in Yıldırım's commanding falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. However, on Turkish standards such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group finds vibrant new territory. They develop slinking, downtempo grooves and soaring vocals that impart a novel, off-kilter twist to the Anatolian psychedelic style.

Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – The Beauty

Gregorian chants, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings merge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's remarkable fourth album. Orchestrating 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 theatrical interweaving lines of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim