Country of Origin
My absolutely favourite album of 2025 which actually released this year and not merely crossed my path late was Øystein Sevåg's Lacrimosa. As a trained classical pianist who also performed in a Rock band whilst his wife plays the violin, our very gifted Norwegian composer cum performer here works again in a neo-classical style so even those averse to the classical concert hall can partake with zero acquired taste. He combines orchestral backdrops with drum sets, soaring saxophone, piano and—very unique to this album—bassoon as a solo instrument with more than equal billing to the saxy reed. Recording quality too is fab to not just serve up super-nutritious musical calories but plenty of audiophile cream. In my book an absolute stunner so top billing on this page!
Claude Chalhoub's Oremus is technically an early 2024 release but I only discovered it this year. This classically trained violinist from Lebanon works in an impressionist neo-classical style with large string ensemble, occasional bass and mild electronic ambiance. If you love violins and celli for their glorious timbres but never learnt to enjoy classical formal string quartets, Oremus and its three precursor albums have you covered in gorgeous down-tempo style with sound quality to match.
A release just missing this year's beginning by five days was Robert 'Robi' Svärd's Batiburillo, a more popular celebration of the Flamenco guitar by apparently the only Swede who mastered the style at this level. Batiburillo makes a perfect entry into a very elaborate Spanish genre since it doesn't veer into Cante Jondo, the guttural wailing Gipsy vocalizing which has many novices even Hiberian natives bolt. It makes a smooth segue into his earlier Alquimia album which does dive more into heavier deeper very sophisticated Flamenco.
Released this year was Juan Carmona's Laberinto de Luz to thus be from a French Flamenco guitarist whom I consider one of the most creative forces working this field today by combining a thrilling variety of stylistic influences. His very high level of technical and compositional mastery sadly doesn't extend to recording quality which here is as dynamically compressed as it gets. It simply shouldn't preclude you from partaking of his unbelievable artistic range.
Rafael Cortés is another 'displaced' Flamenco guitar master who works outside the style's homeland of Spain, in his case Germany's Ruhrgebiet. In that country he is famous on TV for his lightning-fast fingers but he also has a real gift for catchy melodies and easy-listening arrangements which frame his supernatural manual dexterity. Unlike Paco de Lucía's de facto successor Vicente Amigo, Rafael especially on this 2023 album Espada de Fuego champions a steely semi-glassy timbre of high incisiveness. I use this album a lot to gauge a system's ability to cope with these textures.
To conclude my sojourn into Flamenco, my favourite of its female singers is Mayte Martín who like her male colleague Diego El Cigala did with Argentine tango and Cuban son has explored Central and Southern American boleros with a richly modulated vocal expressivity that spans from the wistful and coquettish to full-throttle power whilst practicing good production values. Tatuajes or Tattoos opens with "Gracias a la vida", includes Jacques Brel's "Ne me quitte pas" and the famous "La bien pagá" so covers plenty of ground. If this 2024 effort has your number, follow up with Tempo Rubato which sets her against string quartet and guitar.
Anouar Brahem is an ECM recording regular and with this year's Melancholic Oud reframes previously tilled fields in a very generous 27-track retrospective of sorts. In parallel also on ECM he released After the last Sky which amongst others adds label regular Anja Lechner on cello. Not only do we get the label's reliably fine production values and recording quality, we tap elegiac musical minimalism and sonic meditations of real beauty. For a recent clarinet excursion into the Middle East, there's Saeid Karami & Keivan Saket's Nahavand which sets the Iranian blackwood against the country's long-necked lute called tar. Finally, what would a year be without a new album by my favourite ambient wizard Al Gromer Khan? Space Hotel II is another fine example of minimalist music that doesn't pursue action like Tom Cruise but sets up an atmosphere like a fragrant tree in bloom. And there you have some of my finds of this year which obviously reflect my own tastes but were deliberately picked for what I suspect are—cough—decent chances of being shared. If just one of these picks resonates with you, I'd consider this page well worth the effort. After all, our kind loves to pretend that "it's all about the music". Is it?
This lot possibly loot can be found on Qobuz and/or Spotify so working your way through my shortlist to check on cosmic or cynical resonance should take very little time indeed. Happy auditions!
