''Synkronized'' is the fourth studio album released by English
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
and
acid jazz band
Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai () are an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in the ...
. It was released on 8 June 1999 on
Work Group
The Work Group (stylized as The WORK Group) was an American record label.
History
In July 1999, founders Jeff Ayeroff and Jordan Harris left the label.
Catalog
Artists
*Tatyana Ali (MJJ Music/Work)
*Fiona Apple (Clean Slate/Work)
* E ...
in the United States, and on 14 June 1999 in the United Kingdom under
S2 Records
Sony S2 Records, formerly named as S2 Records and Sony Soho Square (typeset as Sony Soho2), was a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (SME), which operated as a record label in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Sony Soho Square was named after its ...
. While the group recorded the album, bassist
Stuart Zender left Jamiroquai, and
Nick Fyffe
Nick Fyffe (born 14 October 1972) is an English bassist, known for being an ex-bassist of English funk group Jamiroquai. He replaced Stuart Zender in 1999 with the release of the album ''Synkronized''. He was in the process of applying to a J ...
was hired as a replacement. The album contains
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
,
acid jazz and
disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
elements.
The album reached number one in the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
and number 28 in the US
''Billboard 200''. The UK version of the album includes the bonus track "
Deeper Underground
"Deeper Underground" is a single by British funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai from the soundtrack to the 1998 film ''Godzilla''. The song was also included as a bonus track on the group's fourth studio album, ''Synkronized'', as well as on the ...
", which was released as a single the previous year and became Jamiroquai's only number-one single in the UK.
Album information
![Nick Fyffe (13651599323) cropped vertical](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Nick_Fyffe_%2813651599323%29_cropped_vertical.jpg)
The album's recording sessions began at
Jay Kay's Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
home studio, Chillington, in 1998. About 9 tracks
[Jay Kay MTV interview 1999](_blank)
/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
Nick Fyffe (born 14 October 1972) is an English bassist, known for being an ex-bassist of English funk group Jamiroquai. He replaced Stuart Zender in 1999 with the release of the album ''Synkronized''. He was in the process of applying to a J ...
, and the album was re-recorded. The revised album was finished and released within 6 months. ''Synkronized'' is the band's last album to feature didgeridoo
The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...
player Wallis Buchanan.
The opening track, "Canned Heat
Canned Heat is an American band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. The group is noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists and rock music. It was founded by two blues enthusiasts Alan Wilson and Bob ...
", has "svelte Chic Organisation strings, a percolating bassline and a stomping four-on-the-floor rhythm". The second track, "Planet Home", is a "straight, bass-driven funk" track that has techno
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...
influences from "ghostly ambient harmonies to bone-shaking synth bass," and an "out-of-nowhere Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
hustle breakdown". The next track, "Black Capricorn Day
"Black Capricorn Day" is the fifth and final single released by British funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai from their fourth studio album, ''Synkronized''. The single was released in 2000 in Japan only (becoming the second Jamiroquai single to ...
", has a "driving funk groove with sassy horn interjections" which tend to "stutte like a record on a turntable", with its lyrics about being depressed. "Falling" is a "bass driven" acid-jazz ballad track, 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".
The seventh track, "Supersonic
Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...
", 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." The "breezy" track "Butterfly" has "a wobbly bassline that rises up and swamps the chorus." "Where Do We Go from Here?" was described as the point of change within the group's sound, using rocks with a leap-frogging blues piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
and tangy bongos. The final song on the album, "King for a Day King for a Day may refer to:
Film and television
* ''King for a Day'' (1940 film), a 1940 cartoon short in Max Fleischer's ''Gabby'' series
* ''King for a Day'' (1934 film), a 1934 short film starring legendary tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinso ...
", has "dramatic piano and sympathetic strings", with its lyrics referencing Zender's departure.
Release
''Synkronized'' was first released on 8 June 1999 on the Work Group
The Work Group (stylized as The WORK Group) was an American record label.
History
In July 1999, founders Jeff Ayeroff and Jordan Harris left the label.
Catalog
Artists
*Tatyana Ali (MJJ Music/Work)
*Fiona Apple (Clean Slate/Work)
* E ...
label in the United States, then on 14 June in the United Kingdom on Sony Soho Square
Sony S2 Records, formerly named as S2 Records and Sony Soho Square (typeset as Sony Soho2), was a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (SME), which operated as a record label in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Sony Soho Square was named after its ...
. The album reached number 28 in the US ''Billboard 200
The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...
'', where it sold 310,000 shipments. The album peaked at number 2 in the UK chart. In Japan, it reached number 2, and in the year end charts there it ranked number 32 in 1999. It peaked at number 2 in the French SNEP Album charts and number 30 in the year end chart in 1999. In Switzerland, it reached number 2 in the Swiss Albums Charts, and number 25 in the year end chart in 1999. It ranked number 1 in the German Media Control Albums Chart, and it ranked at number 23 in the German year end charts. In Belgium, it ranked 4 in the Ultratop
Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization ...
Flanders chart and nymber 6 in the Wallonia chart. In their year end charts, the album ranked at 42 and 36 respectively. In the Netherlands, in peaked at 6 in the album chart, and number 50 in the year end chart in 1999. In the Australian ARIA Albums chart
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
, it ranked at 1 and 63 at the end of the year. The album was certified platinum in the UK, Switzerland and France. In Japan, it had a quadruple platinum certification. The album was certified gold in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Australia. It was Platinum in Europe by the IFPI
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 19 ...
denoting sales of 1,000,000 copies. The album overall sold 3,000,000 copies worldwide.
"Deeper Underground
"Deeper Underground" is a single by British funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai from the soundtrack to the 1998 film ''Godzilla''. The song was also included as a bonus track on the group's fourth studio album, ''Synkronized'', as well as on the ...
" was the first single to be released on 13 July 1998, where it topped the UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. It remains as their only single to do so. "Canned Heat" was released on 24 May 1999 and was the group's second number one on the US ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs
Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...
Chart. It also ranked at number 4 in the UK. "Supersonic", released 13 September 1999, is the group's third US Dance Club number 1, also ranking at number 22 in the UK. "King For A Day" is the last song to be released, where it peaked at number 20 in the UK.
Reception
Tony Farsides of ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' remarked that ''Synkronizeds "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. The new album's key innovation occurs sonically, with the addition of a harder digital edge to Jamiroquai's trusty jazz-funk
Jazz-funk is a subgenre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat (groove), electrified sounds, and an early prevalence of analog synthesizers. The integration of funk, soul, and R&B music and styles into jazz resulted in the creatio ...
." ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' gave the album 3 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?" ''Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' 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..." ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' claimed "Imagine if tevieWonder had made a disco album in 1977!....Synkronized is a hat trick done with the sharpest chapeau in the store." ''College Music Journal
CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...
'' 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." '' Q'' magazine claimed the album was one of the "50 Best Albums of 1999".
Prasad Bidaye of ''Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
'' 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." Edna Gundersen
Edna Gundersen is an American journalist who was a longtime music writer and critic for ''USA Today''.
Gundersen grew up in El Paso, Texas. She attained a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at El Paso and then wrote features and en ...
of ''USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' 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." Writing for ''Las Vegas Review-Journal
The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area.
The ''Review-Journal'' ...
'', Tom Moon
Thomas Raphael Moon (born November 3, 1960) is an American saxophonist, author, and music critic. He is known for his book '' 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die''. He has won two Deems Taylor Awards from the American Society of Composers, Aut ...
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
"Virtual Insanity" is a song by British funk band Jamiroquai, released on 19 August 1996 as the second single from their third studio album, ''Travelling Without Moving'' (1996). The song interpolates parts of Jocelyn Brown's post-disco hit " S ...
" and the other radio songs from '' Traveling Without Moving''." In his consumer guide for ''The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'', critic Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
gave the album a C− rating in his annual "Turkey Shoot", indicating "a bad record of some general import".
Kay said in a 2001 ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' interview that he was dissatisfied with ''Synkronized'', "I never really locked into that album, lyrically. I wasn't there. I listen to it now, and I shake my head."
Track listing
Personnel
Credits for ''Synkronized'' adapted from album liner notes.
Jamiroquai
*Jay Kay
Jay Kay (born Jason Luís Cheetham; 30 December 1969) is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and lead vocalist of the acid jazz and funk band Jamiroquai, which was formed in 1992.
Early life
Jay Kay was bo ...
– vocals, arrangements, string arrangements, producer, artwork concept
*Toby Smith
Toby Grafftey-Smith (29 October 1970 – 11 April 2017), known professionally as Toby Smith, was an English musician, most famous for being the keyboardist and co-songwriter for Jamiroquai from 1992 until his departure in 2002.
Background and p ...
– keyboards, keyboard programming (tracks 1–9)
* Derrick McKenzie – drums
*Nick Fyffe
Nick Fyffe (born 14 October 1972) is an English bassist, known for being an ex-bassist of English funk group Jamiroquai. He replaced Stuart Zender in 1999 with the release of the album ''Synkronized''. He was in the process of applying to a J ...
– bass
*Simon Katz
Simon Katz (born 16 May 1971) is an English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work with the band Jamiroquai from 1995 to 2000. Katz was a recipient of the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo Or Group With Vocal ...
– guitar (except track 1)
*Sola Akingbola
Jamiroquai () are an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in the ...
– percussion
*Wallis Buchanan – didgeridoo
*DJ D-Zire – turntables
Additional musicians
*Irwin Kelles – guitar (track 1)
*Katie Kissoon & Beverley Skeet – backing vocals
*Kick Horns
Kick Horns are a UK horn section based in London. They have worked prolifically as session musicians with a wide variety of performers, and have also recorded as an ensemble. The Kick Horns were established in the 1980s by Simon C. Clarke and Ti ...
– 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
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1999 albums
Jamiroquai albums