"Elastic Love" is a song recorded by American recording artist Christina Aguilera, taken from her sixth studio album, Bionic (2010). The song was written by Aguilera, M.I.A., John Hill and Switch, while production was handled by the latter two. Originally, "Elastic Love" was recorded by M.I.A., but later it was given to Aguilera. However, M.I.A. was disappointed when Aguilera didn't want to do her "trademark warbling" in the studio. "Elastic Love" is an electro and electropop song with strong elements from 1980s new wave music. Lyrically, Aguilera compares her love to office supplies, from paperclips to rubber-bands.
Upon its release, "Elastic Love" received favorable reviews from music critics, who praised the track's composition, its musical style and M.I.A.'s appearance on the song. Most of them praised it as the stand-out track on Bionic, while some of whom compared Aguilera's vocals on "Elastic Love" to those of M.I.A. and Gwen Stefani. The track was listed as the twelfth best song of 2010 by Amazon.com, and as the second best song of the year by The Village Voice'''s Andrew Stout. Following the release of Bionic, "Elastic Love" peaked on the Gaon International Digital Chart and the Gaon International Download Chart at number 78 and 59 on June 6, 2010, respectively.
Background and development
On the Asian leg of Aguilera's Back to Basics Tour during the summer of 2007, Aguilera revealed that her upcoming album would be "short, sweet and completely different" from her previous long-play Back to Basics (2006). After the birth of her son, Aguilera stated in an interview with Ryan Seacrest that her forthcoming album would include a totally new aspect of herself as an artist, because of the pregnancy with her son. During an interview with People in 2008, Aguilera stated that she was going to start recording new material for her forthcoming album at her home in Beverly Hills. On the album, which was titled Bionic, Aguilera was inspired by electronica music, which she heard a lot during her pregnancy.
British-Tamil recording artist M.I.A. was one of the songwriters of "Elastic Love". According to her, "Elastic Love" was the first track that she recorded, even before she started working on her debut album. She added, "It's the one I made in-between taking time out and having a baby and starting mine". When was asked about why she agreed to work with Aguilera, M.I.A. revealed, "Other people were involved who I respect like Peaches and it was like a sea of women coming together to write this new thing. Christina had also had a baby, you know, so it was kind of an interesting situation". Aguilera's decision not to perform her "trademark warbling" while recording the song disappointed M.I.A., as she detailed in an interview with MTV News UK:I really thought I was going to be able to go in there and get her vocals on to the next level and she didn't want to do it. She was like 'You might think that's great because it's not what you do, but to me I'm really bored of it'. It's interesting getting to work with people who can do things vocally that you can't... but yeah I only heard the song for the first time when everyone else did.
Recording and composition
"Elastic Love" was written by Christina Aguilera, M.I.A., John Hill and Switch. Production of the song was handled by the two latter, who also played all musical instruments in it. The track was recorded at Dubsided in Los Angeles, California. Aguilera's vocals were recorded at The Red Lips Room in Beverly Hills, California. "Elastic Love" lasts for a duration of (three minutes and 33 seconds). It is an electro and electropop song which incorporates strong elements from 1980s new wave music. Its rhymes was described as "swapping sing-song-y" with "playground" chants. The track features "pulsating synth ping-backs" and an "808-esque backbeat" and Aguilera's "robotic" vocals. The melody of the track has been described as a "darker" tune and "unique". Aguilera's vocals on the track received comparisons to those of M.I.A. and Gwen Stefani.