Kevin Bronson on July 31st, 2022

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Mellow and not so: Rounding up four singles released this past week, from the Paranoyds, Cones, Ashe and Stephanie Hatzinikolis …

THE PARANOYDS, “Single Origin Experience”

The Paranoyds got all extraterrestrial on “Lizzie,” the first single from their sophomore album, “Talk, Talk, Talk” (out Sept. 9 via Third Man Records). “Single Origin Experience,” though, tackles more earthly matters, namely government and corporate malfeasance. The opening lyric, “Nihilism bobbleheads, misogynists but working on it / American means shaking hands and stealing land / Modern horror is unmotivated / Moving through the days unabated” sets the tone, right? “Sometimes an event happens or a news report comes out or whatever and you’re just so bummed about what it means to be American,” singer-guitarist Lexi Funston says. “It can be so exhaustingly cringey. Companies spying on us and ‘green-washing’ their products in hopes of selling as a ‘pure’ life, a branded experience. What the fuck? Does single origin coffee really taste any better?” Catch the Paranoyds Oct. 13 at the Constellation Room and Nov. 12 at the Lodge Room.

CONES, “The Tunnel”

The follow-up to (and a sort of sonic interlude for) the singles “Big Bad” and “Malice Palace,” “The Tunnel” is the strummy, dreamy next song from Cones’ album “Almanac” (out Friday). “‘The Tunnel’ is about the longing to connect, and the fear of actually doing so,” says Jonathan Rosen, who with brother Michael released their debut album, “Pictures of Pictures,” in 2019. “It’s about letting yourself grow towards someone or something, and knowing that in order to get to some light, you gotta first venture out into some darkness. The lyric ‘I know that there’s a light at the end of this tunnel and there’s a tunnel at the end of that light there’ illuminates the uncertainty and time-loop madness that we were all feeling at the start of the pandemic in our own unique ways. I was trying to get at the notion that life is an endless state of transition — we may seek that light at the end of the tunnel, and enjoy it when we get there, but must remember that there’s always another tunnel waiting. At the end of that dark, another light — it goes on and on … But we can find consistency in those changes by grounding them in our connections with others.”

ASHE, “Shower With My Clothes On”

Ashe dials back the vitriol of “Hope You’re Not Happy” and “Angry Woman” to confess what a mess she can be sometimes. “‘Shower With My Clothes On’ is what my head feels like when it’s spinning — out-of-control anxiety and the world feeling like it’s closing in on you,” she says. “It’s about remembering those last few moments in a relationship when you’re hopelessly hanging on but know you have to let go.” The visuals for the single (directed by Jason Lester) take place in a photo booth. Ashe’s new album, “Rae,” comes out Oct. 14.

STEPHANIE HATZINIKOLIS, “One More Time”

The follow-up to “So High,” “One More Time” is the second single from an EP that Stephanie Hatzinikolis will release later this year. It’s a pointed piano ballad about a narcissistic friend whose demands seem untenable.