The Veronicas—identical twins Lisa and Jessica Origliasso—were flying high after their 2005 debut, The Secret Life Of…, which established them as one of Australia's leading teen-pop acts of the 2000s. For its follow-up, the duo relocated to Los Angeles, where they worked with top songwriters in pop (Madonna collaborator Billy Steinberg) and mainstream emo (John Feldmann, who had recently collaborated with Hilary Duff and Good Charlotte) to write peppy, tart songs about love and revenge. Using slashing guitars and chilly synths to drive home The Veronicas' evolution into glammed-up rockers, Hook Me Up balances vulnerability with brashness in thrilling ways; the expansive ballad "In Another Life" builds to a bridge where Jess' teary sniffling can be heard in the background, while the punchy chorus of the glossy, determined "This Love" (co-written by a pre-fame Kesha) resolves itself with a resigned sigh and a look back at futile attempts to keep up a romantic connection. Hook Me Up spawned multiple hits at home and overseas, including the speedy "Untouched" and the darkly hued "Take Me On the Floor", and its nervy approach to expanding The Veronicas' sound set up their progression in later years, when they would experiment more with synth-based, dance-music-inspired songs.