Synkronized

Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=In Store Jam19971999 Remixes1999studioSynkronizedSynkronized.pngA laser-cut mirror in the shape of a man with buffalo horns. It reflects the trees and the sky, and lays on a ground of rocks.Jamiroquai8 June 19991998–1999Chillington (Buckinghamshire, England)Template:Hlist53:06Sony Soho Square (UK), Work (US)Al Stone, Jason Kayx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}}

Synkronized is the fourth studio album by English funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai. It was released on 8 June 1999 by Work Group in the United States, and on 14 June 1999 by S2 Records in the United Kingdom. Bassist Stuart Zender left the band during recording, and Nick Fyffe was hired as a replacement. The album contains funk, acid jazz and disco elements.

The album reached number one in the UK Albums Chart and number 28 in the US Billboard 200. The UK version of the album includes the bonus track "Deeper Underground", which was released as a single the previous year and became Jamiroquai's only number-one single in the UK.

Background

The album's recording sessions began at Jay Kay's Buckinghamshire home studio, Chillington, in 1998. About nine tracks<ref name="Jay Kay MTV interview 1999">Jay Kay MTV interview 1999</ref> were recorded, but the band's bassist, Stuart Zender, left partway through the recording in late 1998. Jay Kay hired a replacement, Nick Fyffe, who previously played in a Jamiroquai cover band,<ref name="nudeasthenews" /> and the album was re-recorded. The revised album was finished and released within six months.<ref name="Jay Kay MTV interview 1999"/> Synkronized is the band's last album to feature didgeridoo player Wallis Buchanan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Kay said that he was dissatisfied with Synkronized in a 2001 interview, "I never really locked into that album, lyrically. I wasn't there. I listen to it now, and I shake my head."<ref name="worldwidesales" />

Composition

The opening track, "Canned Heat", has "svelte Chic Organisation strings, a percolating bassline and a stomping four-on-the-floor rhythm".<ref name="q" /> The second track, "Planet Home", is a "straight, bass-driven funk" track that has techno influences from "ghostly ambient harmonies to bone-shaking synth bass," and an "out-of-nowhere Latin hustle breakdown".<ref name="thebaltimoresun" /><ref name="stlouispostdispatch">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The next track, "Black Capricorn Day", has a "driving funk groove with sassy horn interjections" which tend to "stutte[r] like a record on a turntable", with its lyrics about being depressed.<ref name="thebaltimoresun" /><ref name="nicolasbarber">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The lyrics of the fourth track "Soul Education" is about having an "instinctive understanding of universal truths", as Kay confirmed in an interview with Muzik, "A soul education is what we're all born with, and the [song's] lyrics say, 'Life information — it's on the breeze.'"<ref name="souleducation">Template:Cite journal</ref>

"Falling" is a "bass driven" acid-jazz ballad track with its lyrics dedicated to Kay's then-girlfriend Denise Van Outen,<ref name="losangelestimes" /><ref name="vibe" /> which is followed by "Destitute Illusion", an instrumental track "swamped in layer upon layer of antique analogue synthesizers", and has the "scratching of DJ D-Zire".<ref name="q" /><ref name="vibe">Template:Cite journal</ref> The seventh track, "Supersonic", has a "didgeridoo and dobro drone against electronic percussion and a squiggling synth bass, all of which builds to an hallucinogenic mid-song samba break."<ref name="thebaltimoresun">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The "breezy" track "Butterfly" has "a wobbly bassline that rises up and swamps the chorus."<ref name="losangelestimes" /><ref name="q" /> The "multirhythmic" track "Where Do We Go From Here", has an "energetic progression broken by catchy and uplifting choruses with staccato interplay between the horn section and guitarist Simon Katz".<ref name="nudeasthenews">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="atlantaconstitution">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The album closes with "King for a Day", which has "dramatic piano and sympathetic strings", and lyrics referencing Zender's departure.<ref name="bbc">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="rockymountainnews">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Release

Synkronized was first released on 8 June 1999 on the Work Group label in the United States,<ref name="collegemusicjournal"/> then on 14 June in the United Kingdom on Sony Soho Square.<ref name="releasedate">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The album reached number 28 in the US Billboard 200, where it sold 310,000 shipments.<ref name="ussales" /> The album peaked at number 2 in the UK chart.<ref name="ukchart" /> In Japan, it reached number 2,<ref name="Jachart" /> and in the year end charts there it ranked number 32 in 1999.<ref name="JPYearend" /> It peaked at number 2 in the French SNEP Album charts and number 30 in the year end chart in 1999.<ref name="Frachart" /><ref name="frayearend" /> In Switzerland, it reached number 2 in the Swiss Albums Charts,<ref name="chchart" /> and number 25 in the year end chart in 1999.<ref name="SWIyearend" /> It ranked number 1 in the German Media Control Albums Chart,<ref name="dechart" /> and it ranked at number 23 in the German year end charts.<ref name="deyearend" /> In Belgium, it ranked 4 in the Ultratop Flanders chart and number 6 in the Wallonia chart.<ref name="beflchart" /><ref name="bewachart" /> In their year end charts, the album ranked at 42 and 36 respectively.<ref name="beflyearend" /><ref name="bewayearend" /> In the Netherlands, in peaked at 6 in the album chart,<ref name="nlchart" /> and number 50 in the year end chart in 1999.<ref name="nlyearend" /> In the Australian ARIA Albums chart,<ref name="auschart" /> it ranked at 1 and 63 at the end of the year.<ref name="ausyearend" /> The album was certified platinum in the UK, Switzerland and France.<ref name=ukcert /><ref name=frcert /><ref name=swisscert /> In Japan, it had a quadruple platinum certification.<ref name=jpcert /> The album was certified gold in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Australia.<ref name=decert /><ref name="becert" /><ref name=nlcert /><ref name=australiacert /> It was Platinum in Europe by the IFPI denoting sales of 1,000,000 copies.<ref name="europesales" /> The album overall sold 3,000,000 copies worldwide.<ref name="worldwidesales" />

"Deeper Underground" was the first single released from the album when Japan issued it on 20 May 1998.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> That July, it was released in the UK and topped the UK Singles Chart; it remains as their only single to do so.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="top10">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "Canned Heat" was released on 24 May 1999 and was the group's second number one on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="danceclubsongs">Template:Cite magazine</ref> It also ranked at number 4 in the UK.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "Supersonic", released 13 September 1999, is the group's third US Dance Club number 1, also ranking at number 22 in the UK.<ref name="danceclubsongs" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "Black Capricorn Day" was released only in Japan on 3 November 1999.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "King for a Day" is the last song to be released on 29 November 1999, where it peaked at number 20 in the UK.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Reception

Template:Music ratings The album received positive reviews from critics. According to John Bush of AllMusic: "Kay [continues his] fascination with club-bound music of the 1970s -- from disco to jazz-funk to rare groove to later Motown -- but also shows signs of maturity."<ref name="amg"/> Tony Farsides of The Guardian remarked that SynkronizedTemplate:'s "hard and nervy uptempo disco feel reflects the frantic atmosphere surrounding its creation." Farsides called it "Jamiroquai's best record to date. It is more consistent than its three predecessors.<ref name="farsides">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Both critics have noted the band's new use of electronic textures.<ref name="amg" /><ref name="farsides" /> Rolling Stone gave the album three out of five stars, claiming "Synkronized is fifty minutes of sleek, sexy fun; a party album delivered with something like conviction. It's not exactly irresistible, but, really, what's the point of resisting it?"<ref name="Rolling Stone" /> Spin gave the album the same rating, claiming "...redirects the band's British tendency toward smoothed-out old black jams....soaring strings, gyrating congas, hell-bent wah-wah's, and an undeniably live rhythm section that'll hustle your muscles and make you freak to the beat..."<ref name="spin" /> Entertainment Weekly claimed: "Imagine if [Stevie] Wonder had made a disco album in 1977!....Synkronized is a hat trick done with the sharpest chapeau in the store."<ref name="EW"/> College Music Journal claimed: "This incessantly upbeat expedition travels into the regions of Travolta-era disco...feverish funk...and instrumental iridescence...keeping your ears tuned to their funktastic audio adventures."<ref name="collegemusicjournal">Template:Cite journal</ref> Troy Carpenter of Nude as the News called the track "King for a Day", "the band's best-ever album closer".<ref name="nudeasthenews" /> Q magazine claimed the album was one of the "50 Best Albums of 1999".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Better source needed

David Kendrick of Hartford Courant wrote that "Kay and Co. walk a tightrope between homage and derivation. They stay aloft with songs that are light and breezy", and that its lyrics "hold a carefree optimism".<ref name="hartfordcourant">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Prasad Bidaye of Exclaim! called the album, "Jamiroquai's most sophisticated production… The songs don't come anywhere close to the smooth balance of funk and environmentalism in their earlier material, but their philosophy of pre-millennial escapism makes this one of the most energetic recordings Jamiroquai has released in years."<ref name="exclaim">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Edna Gundersen of USA Today wrote that "while the band's fourth album does boast a few jamming grooves, especially the brassy Black Capricorn Day, most of the tracks are to funk what Pop Tarts are to soul food."<ref name="usatoday">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Writing for Las Vegas Review-Journal, Tom Moon wrote that "the liquid, slippery grooves are paramount, though they're sometimes buried under mountains of strings and arrangements that are a tad too busy." He also said that "Canned Heat" and several other tracks are "thinly veiled rewrites of 'Virtual Insanity' and the other radio songs from Traveling Without Moving."<ref name="lasvegasreviewjournal">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau gave the album a C− rating in his annual "Turkey Shoot",<ref name="Christgau"/> indicating "a bad record of some general import".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personnel

Credits for Synkronized adapted from album liner notes.<ref name="booklet">Template:Cite AV media</ref> Template:Div col Jamiroquai

• Jay Kay – vocals, arrangements, string arrangements, producer, artwork concept
• Toby Smith – keyboards, keyboard programming (tracks 1–9)
• Derrick McKenzie – drums
• Nick Fyffe – bass
• Simon Katz – guitar (except track 1)
• Sola Akingbola – percussion
• Wallis Buchanan – didgeridoo
• DJ D-Zire – turntables

Additional musicians

• Erwin Keiles – guitar (track 1)
• John Thirkell - trumpet, flugel
• Katie Kissoon & Beverley Skeet – backing vocals
• Kick Horns – horns
• Simon Hale – string arrangements, keyboard programming (track 10)

Production

• Al Stone – producer, recording, mixing
• Paul Stoney – assistant engineering
• Mike Marsh – mastering
• David Malone – artwork concept
• Midori Tsukagoshi – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

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Chart	Position
European Albums Chart<ref name="euro">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart<ref name="Jachart">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	2

Year-end charts

Chart (1999)	Position
Australian Albums Chart<ref name="ausyearend">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	63
Austrian Albums Chart<ref name="SWIyearend">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	42
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)<ref name="beflyearend">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	42
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)<ref name="bewayearend">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	36
Dutch Albums Chart<ref name="nlyearend">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	50
French Albums Chart<ref name="frayearend">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	30
German Albums Chart<ref name="deyearend">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	23
Japanese Albums Chart<ref name="JPYearend">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	32
Swiss Albums Chart<ref name="SWIYearend">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	25

External links

• Template:Discogs master