Even without a prefix, the verb lösen has quite a few different meanings. Compare the following sentences:

Schon geringste Bewegungen lösen Sediment von den Decken.

Even the slightest movements loosen sediment from the ceilings.

Caption 18, Alpenseen: Kühle Schönheiten

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Ich bin froh, dass die beiden einen Weg gefunden haben, ihre Probleme zu lösen.

I'm glad they found a way to solve their problems.

Caption 54, Die Wohngemeinschaft: Probleme

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...sodass ich mich von allem anderen lösen kann.

...so that I can free myself from everything else.

Caption 48, Sons of Sounds: Open-Air in Karlsruhe

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Also, wir lösen die Bremse, geben Gas, der Schubpropeller schiebt uns.

So, we release the brake, give it gas, the thrust propeller pushes us.

Caption 44, Ultraleicht-Flieger: Der Gyrocopter

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Now let's take a look at the various prefix versions, starting with auslösen, which can mean "to trigger," "to spark," or "to provoke."

Eine wenig schmeichelhafte Stern-Titelstory über Bushido löste Debatten über kriminelle Clans aus.

A hardly flattering Stern cover story about Bushido sparked debates about criminal clans.

Captions 17-18, Jahresrückblick 2013: Deutsche Promis

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Wir haben die erste Stufe bereits ausgelöst.

We have already initiated the first level.

Caption 44, Die Stunde der Offiziere: Dokudrama über den 20. Juli 1944

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The verb auflösen, on the other hand, can mean "to dissolve," "to dissipate," "to disappear," or "to disperse."

Die muss aufgelöst werden im bisschen lauwarmen Wasser.

It has to be dissolved in a bit of lukewarm water.

Caption 16, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Bayern

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Matteo kann sich auch nich' in Luft auflösen.

Matteo can't just disappear into thin air.

Caption 14, Die Pfefferkörner: Alles auf Anfang

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The verb ablösen can mean "to detach," but also "to relieve," as in taking over from someone when doing shift work. In the following sentence, however, this is actually better translated as "we took turns."

Hier für das Wallnau-Projekt haben wir uns immer abgelöst mit'm Filmen.

For the Wallnau project here, we always took turns filming.

Caption 26, Die Insel Fehmarn: Wasservogelreservat Wallnau

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Lastly, the non-separable verb erlösen means "to release," "to redeem," or "to free."

Und dann kamst du und hast mich erlöst, mein Engel.

And then you came and released me, my angel.

Caption 1, Küss mich, Frosch Die Zeiten haben sich geändert - Part 2

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Further Learning
You will find many examples with lösen, auslösen, auflösen, ablösen, and erlösen on Yabla. Here is a longer list of related verbs that you can learn as well.

Last week, we discussed the differences between denn and dann. This week we are going to look at denn, weil, and da, the most common ways of saying "because" in German. There is a big difference in the way these words affect the sentence structure, however. Without getting too in-depth with complicated grammar rules, we can easily understand that the coordinating conjunction denn does not require that the sentence order of Subject-Verb-Object be changed, but the subordinating conjunctions weil and da do. The German verbs are marked in green so you can note their placement in the sentence:

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Solche Bilder sind selten,

Such images are rare,

denn Olme haben nur alle sechs bis acht Jahre Nachwuchs.

because olms have offspring only once every six to eight years.

Caption 33, Alpenseen - Kühle Schönheiten

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The subordinate conjunction weil forces the sentence structure to place the verb at the end of the sentence. Compare the above with how it would read if it used weil or da instead of denn:

Solche Bilder sind selten, weil Olme nur alle 6 bis 8 Jahre Nachwuchs haben.
Solche Bilder sind selten, da Olme nur alle 6 bis 8 Jahre Nachwuchs haben.
Such images are rare, because olms have offspring only every 6 to 8 years.

Note that the English translation is identical. Another example:

Ich übernehm' mal den Part, denn ich bin Pressesprecher.

I will take over this part because I'm the press spokesman.

Caption 5, Die OLElympischen Spiele - Laotischer Hühnertanz

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But this time with weil and da:

Ich übernehme mal den Part, weil ich Pressesprecher bin.
Ich übernehme mal den Part, da ich Pressesprecher bin.
I will take over this part because I'm the press spokesman.

So you see how using denn, the sentence structure remains the same as the standard English Subject-Verb-Object, but with weil and da, the verb must go at the end of the sentence.

The conjunctions denn, weil and da also differ in other ways relating to how each word affects the sentence structure.  A clause or sentence part with denn must come after the part of the sentence that it is modifying, so the sentence structure is required to stay like the denn examples above. With weil and da,  however, you could structure the examples above three different ways, depending on how you wish to place the emphasis in the sentence: 

Solche Bilder sind selten, weil Olme nur alle 6 bis 8 Jahre Nachwuchs haben.
Weil Olme nur alle 6 bis 8 Jahre Nachwuchs haben, sind solche Bilder selten.
Solche Bilder sind, weil Olme nur alle 6 bis 8 Jahre Nachwuchs haben, selten.

Ich übernehme mal den Part, da ich Pressesprecher bin.
Da ich Pressesprecher bin, übernehme ich mal den Part.
Ich übernehme mal, da ich Pressesprecher bin, den Part.

In the above examples, the first sentences are the most commonly seen sentence structure, the second sentences less so, and the last is the least likely, although all three are grammatically correct. 

Next week we'll take a look at a fourth way of saying "because," but it's not a conjunction — it's an adverb! Can you guess what it is?

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Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and search for denn and weil to see the words used in a real-world context and note how the sentence structure can vary with the two words. For an advanced analysis the conjunctions denn and weil, read this DWDS article on denn and this DWDS article on weil.