Lovelorn Dolls – True Crimes

Lovelorn Dolls
True Crimes
Label: Alfa Matrix
Out: 03 October 2025
Playing time: 15:26

The Darkwave duo Lovelorn Dolls from Belgium is back with a new EP. Although, if I read the information correctly and look at the band photo, it’s now a trio. The project was founded in 2010, back then still under the name Lovelorn. The band later had to change the name for legal reasons. In the beginning, the two used more or less meaningful stage names. Fortunately, this chapter is behind them now. Four studio albums and seven EPs have been released since the band was founded. I received the only promo for a Lovelorn Dolls release to date in 2018 (‘Darker Ages’). So I was looking forward to ‘True Crimes’.

The Belgians have produced a sometimes disturbing-seeming music video for the opener ‘A Boy In A Box’. A dark atmosphere is created with hard drums and bass playing. As usual, Kristell Lowagie’s vocals sound beguiling and ethereal. And stands in contrast to the hard rhythms. In between, the singer lets out some nasty screams. Towards the end, the vocals are additionally alienated technically for a short time. ‘Call Me Your Ghost’ starts with synth staccatos. But then the rhythm section pounds again. Kristell’s vocals sound a little more seductive. It becomes really powerful in the refrain. The synths push themselves into the foreground. The dominant synths can also be heard in ‘Dahlia Bleeds’. The drums provide a calm rhythm. And once again, subtle screams can be heard. The guitars occasionally sound extremely dissonant. The quieter ‘Velvet’ is characterised by fat guitar riffs and a powerful bass. The singer screams here for the last time. But she also soars to elfish pitches. What a vocal contrast.

On ‘Darker Ages’, singer Kristell Lowagie had already hinted with her ‘raspy spoken vocals’ (quote from my review) that she can do more than just sing beguilingly and ethereally. But what we hear on ‘True Crimes’ is an extremely versatile vocal performance. She switches effortlessly between contemplative and extremely rocky tones as well as some nasty screams. Musically, the EP is also much more varied than the aforementioned album. Despite all the Darkwave gloom, there are plenty of heavy riffs and bass lines to be heard. The ever-present and often staccato-sounding synths are not distracting for me. On the contrary, they fit in very well with the overall sound. In my opinion, this is a significant improvement compared to the 2018 album.

Lovelorn Dolls – The Boy in the Box: https://youtu.be/-OEgE0XEoG8?si=Uawyxg-N-sw1TWkO

Lineup:

Kristell Lowagie – Vocals
Bernard Daubresse – All Instruments
Eric Renwart – Guitar, Sound Engineer

Track list:

• A Boy In A Box
• Call Me Your Ghost
• Dahlia Bleeds
• Velvet