Biography
Under the pseudonym Nicole Dollanganger, which she derived from V.C. Andrews, Canadian singer/songwriter Nicole Bell started uploading her gothic dream pop material—marked by its evocative and provocative qualities—to a personal blog and MySpace beginning in 2011. Her breathy, childlike vocals paired with lyrics that explored horror, depression, sex, gore, and BDSM helped her cultivate a loyal audience, prompting a series of self-released cassettes and CD-Rs in small editions that included the albums Flowers of Flesh and Blood (2012), Ode to Dawn Wiener: Embarrassing Love Songs (2013), and Observatory Mansions (2014).
In 2015 she supported Grimes and Lana Del Ray at a Toronto show, after which she became the inaugural act on Grimes’ Eerie Organization cooperative; Grimes later explained that issuing Natural Born Losers constituted the sole reason she had founded the imprint. The next year brought further exposure when “Chapel” appeared in episode 16 of The Walking Dead, while a new contract with Run for Cover Records led to reissues of both Ode to Dawn Wiener: Embarrassing Love Songs and Observatory Mansions. Dollanganger’s subsequent album, Hillbilly Noir, was scheduled for release in 2017.
In 2015 she supported Grimes and Lana Del Ray at a Toronto show, after which she became the inaugural act on Grimes’ Eerie Organization cooperative; Grimes later explained that issuing Natural Born Losers constituted the sole reason she had founded the imprint. The next year brought further exposure when “Chapel” appeared in episode 16 of The Walking Dead, while a new contract with Run for Cover Records led to reissues of both Ode to Dawn Wiener: Embarrassing Love Songs and Observatory Mansions. Dollanganger’s subsequent album, Hillbilly Noir, was scheduled for release in 2017.