TheFIX caught up with Aussie pop duo The Veronicas, aka 27-year-old twins Jessica and Lisa Origliasso, to talk about their new single 'Lolita', why they turned down being judges on The Voice Australia, and their mutual adoration of One Direction dreamboat Harry Styles.
"[I'd pash] Harry, because he likes older women," Jess told us. "I think that Harry boy's adorable. It's those big green eyes."
"I honestly don't know any of their names," Lisa added. "He's beautiful, I think they're all beautiful, from what I've seen of them."
The Veronicas are back with a new single, a new album, and a fresh maturity after taking time out from the world — and each other.
The girls toured extensively across Australia, Europe, Asia and the US after the success of their 2007 album Hook Me Up, and then took a much-needed break to "grow up as women and individuals", Lisa revealed.
"Individually so much of our identity was held within the band The Veronicas," she went on. "From the age of 19 to pretty much 25 we were together 24/7."
Jess agreed: "We were fighting a lot by the end of touring, we couldn't stand being in the same room as one another, because we had such different opinions from each other and still we were mushed together every second of the day, and then on stage.
"I just needed to go and read some books, she [Lisa] needed to go and hang out in Nashville and play some blues music and write stuff completely different from The Veronicas.
"We took six months off from each other, and took time just to be women, and have some consistency in our lives — in our relationships, in our friendships, you know all of that kind of thing, and then we went back into the studio."
For nearly two years, the girls have been hard at work on their third album, due out September/October, titled Life on Mars.
'Lolita', a throbbing dancefloor anthem with a darker feel than their previous material, is the first single from the record.
"['Lolita'] is really relevant to the life we've been living, you know, two young girls in an industry run by very powerful men, and exploring your power within that, and how you play with that," Jessica explained.
It's also co-written and produced by Toby Gad, the man behind Beyoncé's 'If I Were a Boy', and Fergie's 'Big Boys Don't Cry'. He's one of various collaborators on the new record, including Daniel Johns from Silverchair, and Jess' recent ex Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins.
"It's been amazing because all of those collaborations happened so organically. It's not like you can just call up someone like Billy Corgan and [Nirvana producer and Garbage drummer] Butch Vig and be like, 'Hey we're two girls from Australia, can you, like, write with us?'," Lisa said.
"There's no way that happens, it's all a process that has to happen organically to get those opportunities."
And how do they deal with their love lives being aired in public?
"It's flattering that people are interested, but we've had to learn the hard way about opening up about that kind of thing and being burnt. There's a certain amount of privacy that needs to be kept for yourself," Jess commented.
One of the things the girls did last year was guest mentoring contestants on The X Factor Australia — but it wasn't a glowing experience.
"It was a very different experience to what we thought we were getting into. So much of those shows have to do with the show, and nothing to do with the talent on the show, and that's TV, it is what it is," Jess said.
"As far as being judges [again], it's not in our near future. As far as TV, it's great TV, and we'd love to go on those shows and perform our own songs."
In fact, The Veronicas turned down an offer to be judges on The Voice Australia.
"We got approached to do judging, but we were in the middle of making our record at the time," Jess said.
From what they saw of the show, they thought Karise Eden deserved her win.
"I thought if she doesn't win then there's something wrong. And she did win, so obviously there's nothing wrong," Lisa laughed.
And while the girls might hold a flame for 18-year-old Harry Styles, it's older men that really rock their boats.
"I have many older men crushes. I love men in their later years, they're so hot," Jess said.
While Viggo Mortensen and Jack White make their celebrity crush shortlist, there's only one guy for both Veronicas.
"Steve Buscemi is the hottest man on earth," according to Jess, echoed immediately by Lisa, "We both have a thing for Steve Buscemi."
Steve Buscemi or Harry Styles ... who would you pick?
The Veronicas' new single 'Lolita' is out today. Get a sneak peek of their new music clip below:
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