Nicole Dollanganger

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Nicole Dollanganger
Birth nameNicole Ann Bell
Born (1991-09-08) September 8, 1991 (age 32)
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer-songwriter
  • artist
InstrumentsVocals, guitar
Years active2011–present
Labels
Websitenicoledollanganger.com

Nicole Ann Bell (born September 8, 1991), known professionally as Nicole Dollanganger, is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter.[1][2][3] Dollanganger's music is characterized by a feminine, high-pitched vocal style, minimalist instrumentation, and lyrical themes frequently pertaining to true crime, violence, sexuality, and romance.[1][2][3][4] Her music has been described as "lo-fi",[5] "atmospheric",[2] and "bedroom folk",[5] and is associated with the folk music, folk pop, bedroom pop, sadcore and dream pop genres.[6][7][8][9]

In 2015, Rolling Stone named Dollanganger in an article titled "10 New Artists You Need to Know", stating that her "gothic folk songs" described as "macabre millennial nightmares, softened by dream-pop tranquilizers, reverberating from a casket-shaped music box", are "as beautiful as they are brutal."[6] Most of her releases were released as digital-only, and a majority of them were initially published by Dollanganger herself through the music website Bandcamp. Her stage name comes from the Dollanganger Series of novels by V. C. Andrews.[10]

Early life[edit]

Dollanganger was born on September 8, 1991, in Scarborough,[4][8][11] a suburban district in Toronto, Ontario in Canada. Dollanganger grew up between Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario,[1][2][4] and southwest Florida in the USA.[12][13][14] Dollanganger would later go on to cite musicians her father listened to during her childhood, such as American country music singers Bobbie Gentry and Tammy Wynette, as influential on her own musical style.[1][15]

Career[edit]

2010–2014: Career beginnings[edit]

Dollanganger first began writing, producing, and recording music in 2010. She recorded original songs, as well as covers, in her bedroom and bathroom[16][17] on her MacBook, using the digital audio software GarageBand.[6] In 2011, Dollanganger began posting her music on Tumblr, where she also posted her visual artwork, as well as on Myspace, and Bandcamp.[1][2][3][8] Many of the original songs she posted would later be included as tracks on her 2012 debut album, Curdled Milk.[4][18]

Curdled Milk, written, produced, and recorded entirely by Dollanganger in 2011 and early 2012, was self-released online as her debut album and first record on July 13, 2012.[18] She created the artwork used on the album cover (as well as two alternative album covers, featuring a photograph she took of herself and drew onto.) Shortly after releasing the album, Dollanganger was admitted to a hospital program as she was suffering from anorexia nervosa, anorexia athletica, and bulimia nervosa.[19][20] After being released from the program, she went on bed rest for a year,[4][20][21] during which she dropped out of Ryerson University, where she had been studying film.[6] In a 2014 interview, Dollanganger reflected on how this experience impacted her music and life.

"[Curdled Milk]'s creation coincided with an illness I was battling, and right after I released it, I went on bed rest for a year & completely shut the world out. I could probably count on my hands how many times I left the house throughout that year, actually. And after that period, I was a completely different person. Everything in my life had changed and I think for the first time I kind of came into myself. In that regard, I feel I have changed a lot."

Dollanganger continued creating music and posting her work online. In November 2012 she self-released her second album, Flowers of Flesh and Blood.[22] On February 20, 2013, Dollanganger would release her third album, Ode to Dawn Wiener: Embarrassing Love Songs.[2][14][17]

On January 10, 2014, Dollanganger released her fourth album, Observatory Mansions.[23] The title of the nine-track album was adopted from Observatory Mansions, the 2000 debut novel by English novelist Edward Carey.[23] The album was recorded in 2013 and would be the last record Dollanganger would write, produce, and record entirely on her own. Around a month prior the album's release, on December 9, 2013, Dollanganger had posted on social media a tentative track list for an untitled record she was working on — the record would later be revealed to be Observatory Mansions, but the seventh track on the tentative track list, "Hymns for the Small Towns", was not included on the album. "Hymns for the Small Towns" is since unreleased.

Dollanganger hand-made a limited number of physical copies of her first four records (on cassette tape format and CD-R disc format), intending to sell them.

2015–2016: Eerie Organization and Natural Born Losers[edit]

In 2015, Dollanganger, alongside Canadian singer and musician Grimes, opened for American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey at a Toronto concert. Grimes, a fan of Dollanganger's work, later announced that she would be creating her own record label, Eerie Organization, particularly to help release Dollanganger's album Natural Born Losers, stating "It's a crime against humanity for this music not to be heard".[24] In October and November 2015, Dollanganger was a supporting musician in Grimes' Rhinestone Cowgirls Tour.[25]

In March 2016, Dollanganger's song "Chapel" (which would later be included on her 2018 album Heart Shaped Bed, released on Grimes' record label Eerie Organization, which had since been renamed Crystal Math Music) was featured in the fourteenth episode of the sixth season of the television series The Walking Dead, "Twice as Far".[26] Later, from August to September 2016, Dollanganger embarked on a co-headlining tour across the United States with bands Elvis Depressedly and Teen Suicide.[27]

2017–2020: Heart Shaped Bed, touring, and collaborations[edit]

In February 2017, Dollanganger was the support act for the last leg of hardcore band Code Orange's Forever tour.[28] In May 2017, she collaborated with grindcore band Full of Hell by providing clean vocals on the title track of their LP Trumpeting Ecstasy.[29]

In 2018, she announced her upcoming album Heart Shaped Bed. On March 30, she released the first five tracks of the album only on her Bandcamp page.[30] In June, she joined Code Orange for select dates for their The New Reality tour, alongside acts Vein and Twitching Tongues.[31] Later, on October 26, Heart Shaped Bed was properly released and included a newly recorded version of the single "Chapel", produced by Arthur Rizk.[32]

In 2020, she collaborated with musical duo 100 gecs, Craig Owens, and Fall Out Boy on a remix of the 100 gecs song "Hand Crushed by a Mallet" for the album 1000 gecs and the Tree of Clues, a remix album of 1000 gecs (2019).

2021–present: Married in Mount Airy[edit]

On March 31, 2021, Dollanganger released a new song "Whispering Glades".[33] On November 4, 2022, Dollanganger released a new song "Gold Satin Dreamer".[34] A few weeks later, Dollanganger released "Runnin' Free". All three singles ended up being included on Dollanger's seventh studio album titled Married in Mount Airy, which was released on January 6, 2023.

Discography[edit]

Studio albums[edit]

List of studio albums, with selected details
Title Album details
Curdled Milk[18]
Flowers of Flesh and Blood[16]
  • Released: November 25, 2012
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
Ode to Dawn Wiener: Embarrassing Love Songs[17]
  • Released: February 20, 2013
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
Observatory Mansions[23]
  • Released: January 10, 2014
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
Natural Born Losers
  • Released: October 9, 2015
  • Label: Eerie Organization
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
Heart Shaped Bed
  • Released: October 26, 2018
  • Label: Crystal Math Music, Eerie Organization
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
Married in Mount Airy
  • Released: January 6, 2023
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download, streaming

Extended plays[edit]

Title EP details
BabyLand
  • Released: March 1, 2014
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download, streaming

Compilation albums[edit]

Title Album details
Heart Shaped Bed demos, b sides[35]
  • Released: December 18, 2019
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download, streaming

Singles[edit]

List of singles, with year released and album name shown
Title Year Album
"Chapel" 2016 Non-album singles
"Observatory Mansions II"
"Lemonade" 2018 Heart Shaped Bed
"Alligator Blood" (original version)[36] 2019 Non-album single
"Whispering Glades" 2021 Married in Mount Airy
"Gold Satin Dreamer" 2022
"Runnin' Free"

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Tapeline, Dennis (August 9, 2018). "Nicole Dollanganger: Taboo-Pushing Chanteuse Shaped by Hardcore and Horror". Revolver. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Rose, Francesca (November 20, 2018). "Music You Should Know: The Horror Movie Ambience of Nicole Dollanganger". Atwood Magazine. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Moreland, Quinn (November 8, 2018). "Nicole Dollanganger: Heart Shaped Bed". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e McDermott, Patrick (October 3, 2015). "Nicole Dollanganger Sings For Freaks Like You". The Fader. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Cills, Hazel (October 5, 2015). "Nicole Dollanganger: Natural Born Losers". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d "10 New Artists You Need to Know: October 2015". Rolling Stone. October 28, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  7. ^ Turner, David (October 6, 2015). "Nicole Dollanganger 'Natural Born Losers' Album Review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c Monger, James. "Nicole Dollanganger on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  9. ^ "Nicole Dollanganger readies Natural Born Losers". Fact Magazine. August 28, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  10. ^ Dollanganger, Nicole (2018). "Nicole Dollanganger INTERVIEW". Sunday Glide (Interview). Interviewed by Bobby Gale. Prince Edward: Prince Edward County Radio Corporation.
  11. ^ "Nicole Dollanganger". SoundHound. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  12. ^ Geffen, Sasha (October 3, 2015). "CoSign: Nicole Dollanganger". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  13. ^ Alexander, Anne (October 20, 2015). "ARTIST INTERVIEW: Nicole Dollanganger". Audiofemme. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Doherty, Michael (August 6, 2015). "Nicole Dollanganger's Music is Darkly Dolled Up". Vice Media. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  15. ^ "Nicole Dollanganger - Tammy Faye (Lyrics)". Genius. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Flowers of Flesh and Blood, by Nicole Dollanganger". Bandcamp. November 25, 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  17. ^ a b c "Ode to Dawn Wiener: Embarrassing Love Songs, by Nicole Dollanganger". Bandcamp. February 20, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  18. ^ a b c "Curdled Milk, by Nicole Dollanganger". Bandcamp. July 13, 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  19. ^ Doran, Elizabeth (July 16, 2019). "Singer Nicole Dollanganger posts about Bianca Devins murder". Syracuse.com. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  20. ^ a b Downie, Jason. "The Haunting Storytelling Of Nicole Dollanganger". Beat. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  21. ^ Cusumano, Katherine (November 23, 2015). "Discovery: Nicole Dollanganger". Interview Magazine. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  22. ^ Fanty, Bianca (October 11, 2016). "Review: Flowers Of Flesh And Blood By Nicole Dollanganger". The Odyssey Online. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  23. ^ a b c "Observatory Mansions, by Nicole Dollanganger". Bandcamp. January 10, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  24. ^ Flanagan, Andrew (August 28, 2015). "Grimes Announces the Launch of Eerie Organization, Will Release Newcomer Nicole Dollanganger". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 13, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  25. ^ Roffman, Michael (September 14, 2015). "Grimes announces Rhinestone Cowgirls fall tour dates". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  26. ^ Rowles, Dustin (March 21, 2016). "10 Questions We Have After This Week's Sad, Confusing 'The Walking Dead'". Uproxx. Archived from the original on June 25, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  27. ^ Sacher, Andrew (June 1, 2016). "Teen Suicide, Elvis Depressedly & Nicole Dollanganger announce tour". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on June 25, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  28. ^ Sperry-Fromm, Rob (November 17, 2016). "Code Orange Releasing Forever, Touring with Youth Code and Nicole Dollanganger". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on November 18, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  29. ^ "FULL OF HELL Complete Work On New Album "Trumpeting Ecstasy"". Profound Lore Records. February 21, 2017. Archived from the original on February 22, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  30. ^ Rettig, James (March 30, 2018). "Hear 5 Songs From Nicole Dollanganger's New Album Heart Shaped Bed". Stereogum.com.
  31. ^ Camp, Zoe (April 26, 2018). "Code Orange Announce U.S. Headlining "The New Reality Tour"". Revolver.
  32. ^ Cusumano, Katharine (October 26, 2018). "Nicole Dollanganger's Honeymoon Phase". Stereogum.com. Archived from the original on January 23, 2019.
  33. ^ Breihan, Tom (March 31, 2021). "Nicole Dollanganger – "Whispering Glades"". Stereogum.com.
  34. ^ Breihan, Tom (November 4, 2022). "Nicole Dollanganger – "Gold Satin Dreamer"". Stereogum.com.
  35. ^ "Heart Shaped Bed demos, b sides by Nicole Dollanganger". Bandcamp. December 18, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  36. ^ "Alligator Blood (Original Version) - Nicole Dollanganger". Bandcamp. January 9, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2023.

External links[edit]

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