When they gamely showed up in our studios, Elephant’s Amelia Rivas and Christian Pinchbeck hadn’t seen each other for three months – and they aren’t planning any parties together in the near future. You can still enjoy their fun, R&B-infused picks yourself, under less-awkward circumstances.
Amelia Rivas: Hi. We’re Elephant. I’m Amelia and this is Christian.
Christian Pinchbeck: Hi, Amelia.
Amelia Rivas: We have a new album coming out called “Sky Swimming,” and this is our party playlist.
Christian Pinchbeck: Is this both of our dinner party? Are we sharing this dinner party or are they separate dinner parties? Because we don’t share anything anymore — we don’t share dinner parties! That doesn’t happen!
Amelia Rivas: And… done.
Chromeo, “Over Your Shoulder”
Christian Pinchbeck: All right, so the first song we’re going to start with is “Over Your Shoulder,” by Chromeo.
Amelia Rivas: Last year we had a party. My aunts and a friend of mine put a Chromeo song on, and after the first play, we listened to it over and over. We got to about 50 plays. We danced to it all night.
Christian Pinchbeck: Someone’s going to ask you “What is this song?” ‘Cause they probably haven’t heard of it. And you don’t even need to answer — just dance.
Amelia Rivas: Yeah — just dance and you’re done.
Diana Ross, “Tenderness”
Amelia Rivas: The next song is from Diana Ross, and it’s called “Tenderness.” When this song goes on, this is when you open a nice bottle of wine… everyone has a nice [mispronouncing it] boo-gie… it’s not out of hand…
Christian Pinchbeck: [correctly pronouncing it] “Boogie”
Amelia Rivas: Boo-gie. Like Boo-gietown.
Christian Pinchbeck: “Boogie.”
Amelia Rivas: Boo-gie.
The background music is really funky… but they way she sings it, I just find it really interesting.
Christian Pinchbeck: Ironically, I didn’t like it on the first listen.
Amelia Rivas: What?!
Christian Pinchbeck: But I know what you’re saying about… It’s very strange.
Amelia Rivas: It is strange.
Christian Pinchbeck: There’s nothing really “on point” about it. It’s one of those songs where, I think, you’ve got to listen to it a couple of times to really get inside it.
Amelia Rivas: But that’s why it’s so clever. And Diana Ross is a babe.
Christian Pinchbeck: Such a babe.
Amelia Rivas: She is a babe.
H-Town, “Knockin’ Da Boots”
Christian Pinchbeck: The next song we’re going to play, as everyone’s dancing on the bed, is H-Town: “Knockin’ Da Boots.”
Christian Pinchbeck: So I picked this song, but now I’m instantly regretting picking it, ’cause it’s so sleazy. So now I feel like I turned the party into some sort of sleazefest, as everyone’s been dancing on the bed to Diana Ross.
I think it was number one in 1993? And I guess what happened was when I was six years old — when I was vibing out to my Lego — this must’ve been on the radio.
Amelia Rivas: You were not listening to this at six.
Christian Pinchbeck: My mum was! And now it’s inside me, and the R&B is coming out.
It is the leaving song — you put that on, and everyone’s left by the end of the song. It’s a good “clearing out” song.
Amelia Rivas: Yeah — I fully support this song because I would grab my coat and leave.
Christian Pinchbeck: Bed time. “Knockin’ The Boots.”
Elephant, “Sky Swimming”
Amelia Rivas: If we were going to choose a track from our album, I think it would be “Sky Swimming.”
Christian Pinchbeck: It’s very sedative, and I find quite a few people that listen to it get in that same kind of state. It just feels right. It’s that whole dreamy kind of… “in the clouds” thing.
Amelia Rivas: This song is… a break-up song. Me and Christian broke up, and I wrote this song, and didn’t really realize that we were going to have it on the album.
It’s a… special moment in our lives.
Christian Pinchbeck: “Special.” Brilliant.
