The album's recording sessions began at Jay Kay'shome studio in 1998. About 9 tracks were recorded, but the band's bassist, Stuart Zender, left partway through the recording in late 1998 over a dispute regarding album credits. Jay Kay hired a replacement, Nick Fyffe. Kay decided to scrap all the tracks and start the album over. The revised album was finished and released within 6 months. An outtake from this album, "Snooze, You Lose", was later released on the mini-album "An Online Odyssey". "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 and tangy bongos. The final song on the album, "King for a Day", is a regal rock-operatic excursion embellished with fully orchestrated piano and strings, with lyrics relating to Stuart Zender's bad departure. It is noticeable that there is no bass guitar or bass synth sound within the song. Synkronized is the band's last album to feature Didgeridoo player Wallis Buchanan. 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.
Reception
Rolling Stone 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 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 claimed "Imagine if Wonder had made a disco album in 1977!....Synkronized is a hat trick done with the sharpest chapeau in the store." 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." Mojo claimed "Synkronized proves Jamiroquai...are capable of knocking up fluid and thrilling grooves at the drop of an enormous hat....Jay's voice is wonderful throughout, delivering his admittedly toe-curling lyrics with...conviction." Q magazine claimed the album was one of the "50 Best Albums of 1999". In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau gave the album a C– rating in his annual "Turkey Shoot", indicating "a bad record of some general import".
