Synchronicity is the fifth and final studio album by the British rock band the Police, released on 17 June 1983 by A&M Records. The band's most successful release, the album includes the hit singles "Every Breath You Take", "King of Pain", "Wrapped Around Your Finger", and "Synchronicity II". The album's title and much of the material for the songs were inspired by Arthur Koestler's book The Roots of Coincidence (1972). At the 1984 Grammy Awards the album was nominated for a total of five awards, including Album of the Year, and won three. At the time of its release and following its tour, the Police's popularity was at such a high that they were arguably, according to BBC and The Guardian, the "biggest band in the world".
Synchronicity is considered to be a defining album of the Second British Invasion. It reached number one on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200, and sold over eight million copies in the US. The album was widely acclaimed by critics. Praise centred on its cohesive merging of disparate genres and sonic experimentation. Rolling Stone described "each cut on Synchronicity [as] not simply a song but a miniature, discrete soundtrack". It has since been included in the magazine's lists of the "100 Best Albums of the Eighties" and the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2009, Synchronicity was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2023, the album was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Recording
The album's title was inspired by Arthur Koestler's book The Roots of Coincidence. Frontman Sting was an avid reader of Koestler, and also titled the Police's prior studio album Ghost in the Machine (1981) after one of his works.
The album marked a significant reduction in the reggae influences that were a part of the band's first four studio albums, instead featuring production-heavy textures and liberal use of synthesizers that, at times, drove entire songs ("Synchronicity I", "Wrapped Around Your Finger"). The influence of world music can also be heard in songs such as "Tea in the Sahara" and "Walking in Your Footsteps". As opposed to the band's previous effort, Ghost in the Machine, the songs are much sparser, with less overdubbing, more akin to the trio feel and the band's aesthetic of "less is more". Sting explains:
As with Ghost in the Machine, the recording for Synchronicity took place over a period of six weeks, at AIR Studios in Montserrat beginning in December 1982. The three band members recorded the basic tracks live in separate rooms: Stewart Copeland with his drums in the dining room (connected to the control room via video link), Sting in the control room, and guitarist Andy Summers in the actual studio. According to co-producer and engineer Hugh Padgham, this was done for two reasons: to obtain the best sound for each instrument and "for social reasons." Sting explained how this setup worked for him:
While tracking live, the band would do multiple takes of each song. Alongside Padgham, they would listen through each take and select the best parts, which would be edited together into one 'master backing track' before they recorded overdubs (including vocals, which were often bounced down to make room for other overdubs on the 24-track).
During the recording of "Every Breath You Take", Sting and Copeland came to blows with each other, and Padgham nearly quit the project. The song was originally attempted with the live method, but due to numerous failed takes the song had to be assembled entirely from overdubs, including all drum parts.
This album also marked Sting's first time using a sequencer, which features heavily on "Walking In Your Footsteps" (said to be the first track he programmed with it) and "Synchronicity I". It was an Oberheim DSX sequencer, which Sting seemed to enjoy pushing to its limits, and he likened it to HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Final overdubs and mixing were done within two weeks at Le Studio in Morin-Heights from mid-January to February 1983 using an SSL console. Summers reflects on the transition from recording to mixing: