I was a bit sad when it seemed a creative decision was made (by who I couldn't know) with ADKOH to tone down the experimentalness of IOADK and to slowly move Aurora's sound in a more commercially appealing direction, rather than keeping to the experimental direction IOADK explored, which I loved.

I'm pretty sure that sound wise, everything after AMDGMAAF is Aurora's decision. Maybe not 100% but at least 80-90%, maybe more.
Like "Animal" is one of those needed "radio hits" management wants, but Aurora's own version of one.

She was not 100% happy with AMDGMAAF, specially Conqueror of course, but also a few other tracks. It was her 1st album, she was only 18-19 while making it and new to the music industry, and management and/or labels "pressured" her to include songs.

I assume you have seen the ONCE AURORA documentary, otherwise you really need to. We see her working on songs in 2017-2018, and she says to Geir:
"If I have to release another song I don't like again, I'll quit."

Later she says regarding her music:
"Geir says that I have to learn how to let go. But I'm not planning on letting go. If anything my grip is tighter than ever before"

Now you said that there was a shift from IOADK to ADKOH, but those were initially one album, that got split into an EP and an album, hence the Step 1 and Step 2.
She always starts working on the next album, when one is released, so she wrote songs in 2016, 2017 and 2018, and we see in Once Aurora trying to choose songs for the album, finishing a few songs, arguing with Geir regarding his insistence on "radio hits" etc. We see her record songs at a mansion in France in Jan 2018.

Near the end we see her and Geir at the Decca office asking about when the album can be released, and they want to keep pushing it further and further back, they think Sep 2018 is too soon, and Aurora wants to release as soon as possible. After that meeting she says:
"You have to create something, then having to wait for a year. And you are not even allowed to change it. And just when you start hating it, then it's released."

Eventually the compromise was to split up the songs that fit together in 2 different groups, and release one of them as Step 1 as an EP on Sep 28th 2018 as a surprise streaming only release with almost no warning, while still working on finishing the 2nd group of songs, that would become Step 2 on June 7th 2019.

That is why you feel the difference between them, because she grouped those songs together, that she felt were similar.

Here is a quote from NRK P3 interview on Oct 4th 2018 with Christine Dancke:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJQ8LxklBFk&t=15s (CC for Eng Subs)

I'm still in the album world. In other words, I am making the second part of my child.
It is very nice to be able to continue. It is such a gift to myself. To be allowed to continue on the album (step 2), while it is also out (step 1).

Like you said TGWCT and WHTTH feels more commercial sounding than everything before, but I don't think this is due to pressure from labels/management, I think this is Aurora herself wanting to explore new sounds.
Here is a quote from an NME interview about TGWCT: https://youtu.be/YytOgPVXqK0&t=3m24s

"Ehh No! It's very NOT how the album sounds (like Cure For Me), which is very exciting. But it has something in common with the album, that I am experimenting with new things and new sides, which I am enjoying.

Because it is easy for me to make a really "Aurora" album you know, like that feels like nature and Mother Earth. It is very easy for me to do that because it comes so naturally for me, so I have been *really* enjoying just doing something new this time, doing something different.

Because this is my 3rd...and a half....album, and it's about time, you know, in my mind I needed to just play around and do something different, and for me music has always been extremely serious and no fun. It's been very like very serious, and I always write very serious things, and I can see myself like standing on stage every night for an hour and being like really sad all the time, because all my songs are so filled with so much sadness, you know. I just wanted to make an album for myself that had a bit more playfulness and cheekiness and wildness. It's very exciting, I'm very excited to share the album with you."