Poppy, “Zig.”

Poppy has tested out just about ever corner of rock, from heavy metal to lo-fi, Kawaii metal and grunge. She’s left few stones unturned. Since the artist, born Moriah Rose Pereira, is an adventurer, she turned toward alt-pop on Zig to keep covering new ground.

Trade in the guitars for synths and the drum set for electronic loops and rhythmic patterns, and you’ll have a closer sense of the territory on the singer’s latest album.

The title track is one of the few moments to even have a riff-driven hard rock sound referencing the shape-shifting artist’s prior work.

“When you zig, I zag,” Poppy sings in the chorus—truer words never spoken.

Poppy runs a tight ship on Zig. The majority of the record’s 11 tracks fall within a two- to three-minute range. The record puts Poppy’s vocals front and center more so than any of her prior albums. There’s a defined emphasis on hooks, melody and memorable lyrics. Zig feels very much like a personal reflection of Poppy in the current moment, and occasionally a critique of the industry around her.

“Life is a commercial for death/ Anger is something I worked to manifest,” she sings on opener “Church Outfit.”

The album is shrouded in synth-heavy dark pop anthems like “Knock Off,” a minimalist portrait with a driving beat, about finding authenticity in a sea of copies. Elsewhere, on “Hard,” Poppy’s vocal cadence shifts from a near-whisper and spoken delivery to an aggressive scream over a lo-fi industrial beat turning to an ethereal spacey synth. It’s a collection of dissimilar components that come together in a cohesive way.

One of Zig’s best moments is the dramatic, string-driven “What It Becomes.” The dark and moody track feels like a film score from a futuristic adventure. Poppy’s vocal is understated but powerful on the statement track that puts her own frustrations on display.

“Hype myself up to leave the house/ ‘Cause I don’t like to see what’s out there,” she sings.

As the album unfolds, it veers further from what Poppy’s longtime fans expect from here. “Flicker” is washed in distorted synths, with an infectious backbeat, that provide an undeniably catchy chorus. The wordy lyrical cadence rolls off the tongue with a natural rhythmic pattern. Then, “1s 0s” presents another dichotomy of a distorted and chaotic instrumental with a crystal-clear vocal.

Lush ballad “Linger” may be the most surprising and uncharacteristic track. Starting solemnly and acoustically, it grows to a moody atmospheric number with a trippy and slightly mismatched vocal harmony. “The Attic” has a similar challenging structure, this time taking a straightforward vocal melody and including a complex fuzz-toned drum pattern underneath. The unique arrangement injects life into what would otherwise be a mid-tempo piano ballad.

“Motorbike” may be the most unabashedly pop anthem on the record, with a dark aesthetic that recalls the likes of pop artist Lights. The beat-forward track is club-ready in its presentation. The album ends on its most unusual note with “Prove It,” a chaotic song that oscillates between dreamy balladry and industrial mayhem. It’s a fitting way to close out a challenging record.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.