Aldous Harding pulled a surprising about-face on last year’s “Old Peel.” She replaced the soothing woodwinds and acoustic guitar that characterized her previous work with metronomic stabs of electric skronk, morphing her earthy folk into shambling art-rock. On “Lawn,” the lead single from her forthcoming album Warm Chris, the New Zealander takes an even more brazen step towards reinvention, rendering herself nearly unrecognizable by stretching her voice into the uppermost reaches of its range.

Backed by a lean arrangement of clattering drums and steady bass, Harding hacks away at the dead weight of a failed relationship. “Can you imagine me just being out and free?” Harding coos wistfully before her frustration boils up to the surface, spilling over into lines where she confesses her annoyance at wasting her time on a partner’s precious “B-sides” and culminating in a declaration to charge into the unknown. Severed from the comforts of reliable disappointment, she embraces her newfound liberty and begins again.