Their second studio album, Take Me Home (2012), is characterised by rock-inherited pop, prominent electric guitar riffs, bright synthesizers, double entendres for sexual intercourse, a homogeneous sound and message, and pitch-correcting software Auto-Tune.[84][85][86][87][88] Alexis Petridis for The Guardian interpreted its signature sound as follows: "peppy, synth-bolstered take on early-80s new-wave pop, heavy on clipped rhythms and chugging guitars," which he felt is at least an improvement on the substitute R&B "that was once the grim lot of the boyband."[87] The New York Times writer Jon Caramanica considered the album "far more mechanical" than their debut album, although noted that it's sonically and lyrically similar.[85] The album's lyricism speaks of falling in love, unrequited love, the insistence that flaws are what make a person unique, commitment, jealousy and longing for past significant others.