Lovelorn Dolls interview: Kristell Lowagie on continuing after Bernard Daubresse

Belgian synth-goth act Lovelorn Dolls spoke to Side-Line about continuing the band as a duo with guitarist Eric Renwart, eight months after the sudden death of co-founder Bernard Daubresse in November 2025. Vocalist Kristell Lowagie answers questions on the band’s future, the departure of live bassist Fabien, the true-crime concept behind the “True Crimes” EP, her AI-generated cover art, and the band’s upcoming shows at Harmony Metal Fest, INFEST Festival and NCN Festival.

Lovelorn Dolls formed in Brussels around 2010, when Lowagie, previously performing under the stage name Ladyhell, began working with guitarist and composer Bernard Daubresse, formerly of Corpus Christi, under the name Lovelorn. The duo signed to Alfa Matrix in 2012 and built the project’s blend of gothic rock guitars, synth sequences and Lowagie’s vocals across four albums and multiple EPs over the following fifteen years, up to the “True Crimes” EP that turned out to be their final release together.

Lovelorn Dolls interview

SL: Bernard Daubresse died suddenly in November 2025, after roughly fifteen years of writing and producing Lovelorn Dolls together. What was the first decision you made about the band’s future, and how soon after his death did you make it?

Kristell: There wasn’t really a decision at first. There was only grief. For weeks, I couldn’t even think about music. Lovelorn Dolls had always been “us,” never just me. Bernard wasn’t only my musical partner – he was my friend.

But after some time, I realized that stopping the band would mean letting 15 years of creativity disappear. I honestly believe he would have hated the idea of everything ending because he was gone.

SL: You wrote at the time that “silence is not my option” and that “he would have hated stagnation.” Concretely, what does continuing the project look like now – are you writing new material, and who is handling the roles Bernard used to cover: guitars, keyboards, programming, and production?

Kristell: We’re already writing new material. The next EP moves away from the true crime concept and becomes much more personal. It’s impossible not to be influenced by everything that has happened. Today, Lovelorn Dolls is a duo. Eric Renwart joined the project as guitarist and sound engineer, and together we’re rebuilding the creative process from the ground up. The artistic direction remains entirely in our hands. No one is trying to imitate Bernard. That would be impossible. Instead, we’re writing a new chapter while staying true to the emotional DNA of Lovelorn Dolls.

SL: Eric Renwart joined as guitarist and sound engineer, and Fabien has come in as live bassist. How did each of them come into the band, and how far along are rehearsals for the 2026 shows?

Kristell: The lineup has evolved since then. Fabien is no longer part of the project, and Lovelorn Dolls is now simply the two of us: Eric and me, both in the studio and on stage.

Eric and I already knew each other through the Belgian alternative music scene. Besides being an excellent guitarist, he’s also an experienced sound engineer, and we quickly realized we shared the same artistic vision. His arrival wasn’t about replacing Bernard – that’s impossible – but about helping the band move forward while respecting everything that came before.

We’re currently rehearsing as a duo, using backing tracks for the additional arrangements, which allows us to stay faithful to the richness of our recordings while keeping the live performance intimate, energetic and emotionally honest. It has become a very different way of performing, but one that feels authentic to where Lovelorn Dolls is today.

SL: All four songs on “True Crimes” are built around real cold cases: the Black Dahlia on “Dahlia Bleeds,” JonBenét Ramsey on “Velvet Little Voice,” the “Boy in the Box” case on the title track, and the Zodiac Killer on “Call Me Your Ghost.” How did you choose these four cases specifically, and were any of the songs written before Bernard’s death?

Kristell: All four songs were written before Bernard passed away. We didn’t choose these cases because they were famous. We chose them because they still leave unanswered questions. They’re stories where time hasn’t erased the mystery or the emotion.

What interested us wasn’t the crime itself but the people behind the headlines – the victims, the families and the lasting impact of unresolved stories.

SL: “The Boy in the Box” is about a child found dead in Philadelphia in February 1957, identified in December 2022 as four-year-old Joseph Augustus Zarelli through genetic genealogy – a case that’s still open. What drew you to write about a case that’s only partly solved, rather than one that’s fully closed?

Kristell: Because some stories never truly end. Even though Joseph Augustus Zarelli finally recovered his name, justice still hasn’t been served. His family finally got part of the truth, but not all of it. That unresolved feeling perfectly matched what I wanted the song to express.

SL: You said about the EP: “I don’t hear closure. I hear something that’s still alive.” Is that a comment about the true-crime subject matter, about Bernard’s absence from the recordings, or both?

Kristell: Today, I’d say it’s both. When I first said that, I was mainly talking about the stories behind the songs. But after Bernard’s death, those words took on an entirely different meaning.

Now, every time I listen to the EP, I hear someone who’s no longer here – but whose creativity is still alive in every note.

SL: The official video for “The Boy in the Box” – what’s the visual concept, and who directed it?

Kristell: The video was directed by Bernard and me. We didn’t want to recreate the crime itself, we wanted to create a vintage atmosphere inspired by forgotten memories, abandoned places and fragmented childhood.

SL: You’ve described your own inspiration as coming “from within…” Where does “True Crimes” sit on that scale?

Kristell: It started as an external concept. But I think every artist inevitably filters outside stories through personal emotions. Looking back today, I probably connected with those unresolved stories more than I realized. The EP became strangely prophetic for me.

SL: You handle the band’s visuals in-house now rather than outsourcing them. What’s your process for turning a true-crime case into cover art or video imagery without it tipping into exploitation of real victims?

Kristell: I’ve always had a very visual approach to music. Before people knew me as the singer of Lovelorn Dolls, I was also developing my own visual universe through my photography project, “Kristell In Wonderland.” Photography, staging and storytelling have always been part of who I am as an artist, so for me, the music and the visuals are inseparable.

For our latest covers, I chose to work with AI-generated imagery. I know it’s a controversial subject, but I embraced it very early on because it allowed me to create exactly the images I had in my mind. For the first time, I wasn’t trying to explain a concept to another artist or compromise on a visual direction – I could build an entire world that truly reflected my imagination. In many ways, it became another artistic medium, just like photography had been for me years before.

That said, I completely understand why AI raises concerns within the creative community, and I respect those discussions. I’m not attached to one technique or another. If a future project calls for a human illustrator, photographer or painter, I’d be delighted to collaborate. What matters most to me is choosing the medium that best serves the story I want to tell.

SL: Before Lovelorn Dolls you performed as Ladyhell, and you’ve also worked under the “Kristell In Wonderland” name as a visual and photographic project. Are either of those still active, and does that photographic work feed into how you build Lovelorn Dolls’ current visual identity?

Kristell: “Ladyhell” wasn’t actually a separate project. It was simply the stage name I used during the very early days of Lovelorn Dolls, before I decided to perform under my real name. I quickly abandoned it because it no longer felt like the right fit.

Before Lovelorn Dolls, I co-founded the Belgian electro-industrial band Skeptical Minds with Vincent Lacrosse in 2002. I remained an active member until 2007, and that period taught me a great deal about songwriting, recording, and performing within the dark alternative scene. It was an important chapter in my musical journey and helped shape the artist I would later become with Lovelorn Dolls.

As for Kristell In Wonderland, the project is currently on hold. It’s not over, but it’s sleeping for the moment while I focus my energy on Lovelorn Dolls.

That said, the visual language I developed through photography still influences everything I do. I tend to think in images as much as in melodies.

SL: Lovelorn Dolls started in 2010 as a duo with Bernard, formerly of Corpus Christi. Looking back at “The House of Wonders” (2013), “Japanese Robot Invasion” (2014), “Darker Ages” (2018), and “Deadtime Stories” (2024), how do you see “True Crimes” fitting into that arc – a new chapter, a closing statement, or something else?

Kristell: It unexpectedly became both an ending and a beginning. It closes the chapter Bernard and I built together, but it also opens the door to what Lovelorn Dolls can become from now on.

I don’t think of it as a farewell album. I think of it as a bridge.

SL: You have Harmony Metal Fest in Antwerp, INFEST Festival in Manchester, and NCN Festival near Leipzig on the books for 2026. What can people expect from a Lovelorn Dolls live set right now, given the lineup changes – are you keeping Bernard’s parts in the set, reworking them, or both?

Kristell: The heart of the show remains the same, but the format has naturally evolved.

As a duo, Eric and I perform with backing tracks that preserve the layers and atmosphere that have always been part of Lovelorn Dolls’ sound. Bernard’s guitar parts remain an essential part of our songs, but they are also reinterpreted where it feels natural. We don’t want to recreate the past note for note – we want to let the music continue to live and evolve.

What audiences can expect is an emotional, immersive performance that stays true to the spirit of Lovelorn Dolls while embracing this new chapter. It’s still the same band at heart, just told through a different lens.

SL: Is there a full-length album planned after “True Crimes,” and if so, does it continue the true-crime concept or move somewhere else?

Kristell: Right now we’re focusing on a brand new 4-track EP. Unlike “True Crimes,” it isn’t built around one central concept. It’s much more intimate and emotional.

SL: If someone is hearing Lovelorn Dolls for the first time through “True Crimes,” not knowing the band’s history or what happened this past year, what do you want that first impression to be?

Kristell: I hope they simply hear honest music. Whether someone discovers us today or has followed us for 15 years, I want them to feel something. Curiosity. Melancholy. Hope. Maybe all three at once. If our songs make someone stop for four minutes and lose themselves in another world, then we’ve done our job.

About Lovelorn Dolls

Lovelorn Dolls formed in Brussels, Belgium, around 2010, initially under the name Lovelorn, built around vocalist Kristell Lowagie (previously performing as Ladyhell) and guitarist-composer Bernard Daubresse, formerly of Corpus Christi. Before Lovelorn Dolls, Lowagie co-founded the Belgian electro-industrial band Skeptical Minds with Vincent Lacrosse in 2002 and remained an active member until 2007. The duo signed to Alfa Matrix in 2012, following an earlier digital EP, “An Intense Feeling of Affection,” and released the debut album “The House of Wonders” in 2013 and “Japanese Robot Invasion” in 2014, the latter followed by the “Happy Valentine” EP combining remixes with live recordings from Eurorock 2015.

After a hiatus in which Lowagie pursued her electro-pop side project SIN.SIN, Lovelorn Dolls returned with the “Lament” EP and third album “Darker Ages” in 2018, recorded with producer Maxx Maryan. The band’s fourth album, “Deadtime Stories,” followed in May 2024 on Spleen+, again produced by Maryan and featuring guest contributions from Dero Goi (ex-Oomph!) and US rapper Vvitchboy. In February 2024, Lowagie also marked the tenth anniversary of the song “Happy Valentine” with a new video and a Bandcamp charity campaign for the Belgian organisation CVFE.

Lovelorn Dolls released the four-track EP “True Crimes” on October 3, 2025, via Alfa Matrix/Spleen+, introducing guitarist and sound engineer Eric Renwart to the band’s recording and live line-up. Bernard Daubresse died suddenly in November 2025, aged into his fifteenth year as Lowagie’s co-writer and producer. In February 2026, the band unveiled the official video for “Call Me Your Ghost” and introduced Fabien as live bassist ahead of a run of 2026 festival dates; Fabien has since left the line-up, leaving Lowagie and Renwart to continue as a duo. Lovelorn Dolls are booked to play Harmony Metal Fest in Antwerp, INFEST Festival in Manchester, and NCN Festival near Leipzig in 2026, and are writing a new, more personal four-track EP as the follow-up to “True Crimes.”