🔗 Share this article Our Ten Top Global Records of 2025 The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of global sounds that defied expectations. Here is a countdown of ten exceptional albums that shaped the year in music. Number Ten: The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already An album consisting of a single, extended movement of insistent drumming might not seem the most accessible musical proposition. But, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar transforms this persistent pulse into a unexpectedly magnetic piece. Leading an trio of three drummers, Korwar develops a complex percussive language across the record's 10 movements. His composition channels minimalist concepts from Steve Reich alongside classical Indian rhythmic patterns, everything tethered in the reiteration of a persistent, thrumming motif. The longer one listens, this refrain starts to mirror the trance-inducing cycles of devotional music, drawing the listener deeper into Korwar's singular percussive universe. 9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember Coming off an eight-year break, Arab singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a mournful album of songs. She expands on the Arabic-language, dub-influenced aesthetic that cemented her status in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is quiet and ruminative, delivering soft melodies over the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop beat of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a quivering, yearning vocal technique against Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and rattling electronic percussion. The album's sound is sparse and understated, yet this minimalism creates the ideal setting for Hamdan's expressive lyricism to shine through. The album proves to be well worth the long anticipation. 8. Debit – Desaceleradas From Mexico producer Debit specializes in uncanny reimaginings of traditional music. For her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dub-inflected version of the shuffling Latin American dance music genre. Debit drags this sound even further, running its characteristic synths and off-beat rhythm via sheets of distortion and static to create a fresh, menacing beat. Sometimes atmospheric and uneasy, Debit converts the exuberant dancefloor sound of cumbia into a persistent, ethereal memory. 7. The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Radio Libertadora! Sensory overload is the defining principle for the music of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Inventing his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a tumult of alarms, pummeling bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the propulsive sound of neighborhood block parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira escalates the ferocity, 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 particularly hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy forty-minute listening experience. Surrender to the noise and Vieira's unapologetic productions become strangely liberating. 6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco beats and traditional Punjabi tunes is a newly appreciated treasure. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an strikingly compelling fusion of the metallic sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her melismatic Indian classical vocal technique. Drum machine patterns mirrors the undulating tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody doubles the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, bossa nova rhythm is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a fast-paced walking disco bassline. It's a club-ready hybrid delivered over a decade before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music. Number Five: The Mongolian Artist Enji – Sonor Mongolian singer Enji's delicate new release, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-inflected sound to present some of her broadest music yet. Moving away from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs range from the soft jazz-pop melodics of downtempo 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 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Featuring a live band rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still intimate, pulling the listener into the warm soundscape of her distinctive voice. 4. Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – If There Is No Tomorrow Inspired by the 1960s legacy of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as MoÄŸollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup ÅžimÅŸek fuses the electric jangle of the electrified saz with woozy Mellotron and R&B-inflected lines. It's a nostalgic vibe anchored in Yıldırım's commanding falsetto 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 develop smooth, downtempo grooves and soaring vocals that give a fresh, unconventional twist to the Anatolian psychedelic style. Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza Catholic requiem mass music, Eastern European folk melodies and symphonic arrangements converge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's remarkable latest work. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece MedellÃn Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett journey through a vast range including the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic interweaving lines 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 global sounds that defied expectations. Here is a countdown of ten exceptional albums that shaped the year in music. Number Ten: The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already An album consisting of a single, extended movement of insistent drumming might not seem the most accessible musical proposition. But, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar transforms this persistent pulse into a unexpectedly magnetic piece. Leading an trio of three drummers, Korwar develops a complex percussive language across the record's 10 movements. His composition channels minimalist concepts from Steve Reich alongside classical Indian rhythmic patterns, everything tethered in the reiteration of a persistent, thrumming motif. The longer one listens, this refrain starts to mirror the trance-inducing cycles of devotional music, drawing the listener deeper into Korwar's singular percussive universe. 9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember Coming off an eight-year break, Arab singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a mournful album of songs. She expands on the Arabic-language, dub-influenced aesthetic that cemented her status in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is quiet and ruminative, delivering soft melodies over the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop beat of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a quivering, yearning vocal technique against Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and rattling electronic percussion. The album's sound is sparse and understated, yet this minimalism creates the ideal setting for Hamdan's expressive lyricism to shine through. The album proves to be well worth the long anticipation. 8. Debit – Desaceleradas From Mexico producer Debit specializes in uncanny reimaginings of traditional music. For her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dub-inflected version of the shuffling Latin American dance music genre. Debit drags this sound even further, running its characteristic synths and off-beat rhythm via sheets of distortion and static to create a fresh, menacing beat. Sometimes atmospheric and uneasy, Debit converts the exuberant dancefloor sound of cumbia into a persistent, ethereal memory. 7. The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Radio Libertadora! Sensory overload is the defining principle for the music of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Inventing his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a tumult of alarms, pummeling bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the propulsive sound of neighborhood block parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira escalates the ferocity, 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 particularly hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy forty-minute listening experience. Surrender to the noise and Vieira's unapologetic productions become strangely liberating. 6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco beats and traditional Punjabi tunes is a newly appreciated treasure. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an strikingly compelling fusion of the metallic sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her melismatic Indian classical vocal technique. Drum machine patterns mirrors the undulating tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody doubles the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, bossa nova rhythm is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a fast-paced walking disco bassline. It's a club-ready hybrid delivered over a decade before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music. Number Five: The Mongolian Artist Enji – Sonor Mongolian singer Enji's delicate new release, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-inflected sound to present some of her broadest music yet. Moving away from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs range from the soft jazz-pop melodics of downtempo 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 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Featuring a live band rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still intimate, pulling the listener into the warm soundscape of her distinctive voice. 4. Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – If There Is No Tomorrow Inspired by the 1960s legacy of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as MoÄŸollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup ÅžimÅŸek fuses the electric jangle of the electrified saz with woozy Mellotron and R&B-inflected lines. It's a nostalgic vibe anchored in Yıldırım's commanding falsetto 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 develop smooth, downtempo grooves and soaring vocals that give a fresh, unconventional twist to the Anatolian psychedelic style. Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza Catholic requiem mass music, Eastern European folk melodies and symphonic arrangements converge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's remarkable latest work. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece MedellÃn Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett journey through a vast range including the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic interweaving lines of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated dembow rhythms of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim