Finding a lost Nicole Dollanganger EP feels like digging through a digital graveyard. Honestly, if you’ve spent any time in the darker corners of Bandcamp or Tumblr over the last decade, you know the vibe. Nicole’s music has always been a bit ghostly. It’s high-pitched, fragile, and often deeply unsettling. But there is a specific kind of frustration that comes with being a fan of her early work—the "lost" stuff. We aren't just talking about unreleased demos. We are talking about entire projects that existed, breathed for a moment, and then vanished.
The internet is supposed to be forever. It isn't.
When people search for a lost Nicole Dollanganger EP, they are usually hunting for Empty Homes (B-Sides). It’s the white whale of her discography. Released (and quickly pulled) around early 2014, it remains one of the most elusive pieces of "bedroom pop" history.
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What Actually Happened to Empty Homes?
Most people assume "lost" music just means it’s not on Spotify. With Nicole, it's deeper. Empty Homes was a small collection of b-sides that appeared on her Bandcamp page briefly between December 2013 and January 2014. It featured songs like "Dahmer and the Limbs," "Don’t Be Scared," and "An Angel Like River Phoenix."
By March 2014? Gone.
The Wayback Machine shows traces of it, like a digital fingerprint on a dusty window, but the actual audio files weren't archived. In a Discord Q&A a while back, Nicole herself mentioned she doesn't even have the original files anymore. That’s the nightmare scenario for a collector. If the artist doesn't have it and the server doesn't have it, where is it? It exists only on the hard drives of the few dozen people who were fast enough to hit "download" ten years ago.
The Mystery of Babyland and the Overlap
Sometimes fans get confused because of the EP Babyland. It used the same cover art as Empty Homes in some iterations. Babyland (2014) is much easier to find, containing tracks like "700 Club" and "Executioner." But it's not the same thing.
The lost Nicole Dollanganger EP everyone wants is that specific b-side collection. It’s the bridge between her early, rawest era and the more "produced" (though still lo-fi) Observatory Mansions.
Why Did the Music Vanish?
Nicole’s early career was defined by a very specific kind of isolation. In 2012, she was on bed rest for a year due to severe illness. She recorded everything in her bedroom or bathroom using GarageBand. This wasn't a calculated "aesthetic" choice. It was a survival tactic.
When Grimes (Claire Boucher) discovered her in 2015 and started the Eerie Organization just to put out Natural Born Losers, Nicole’s world changed. Suddenly, her "darkest musings" weren't just for a few people on Tumblr. They were for everyone.
That shift caused some serious "nerves" regarding her older, more intimate material. She’s been open about feeling self-conscious as her platform grew. Some EPs were deleted because they felt too personal. Others, like the original Columbine EP, were scrubbed or modified because of the controversial nature of the artwork—which was literally a crime scene photo.
What is actually "Lost" vs "Unreleased"?
Let's clear the air on the terminology.
- Lost: Empty Homes (B-Sides). Specifically the tracks "Don't Be Scared" and "An Angel Like River Phoenix." Unless a fan re-uploads them from an old iPod, they are basically digital dust.
- Removed/Archived: Columbine. You can find the songs if you look, but she officially folded them into a Covers collection later on.
- Unreleased: Songs like "Nashville." There are rumors of live footage, but a studio version has never surfaced.
The Search for the Holy Grail
The hunt for a lost Nicole Dollanganger EP usually leads back to old Soulseek threads or private Discord servers. If you're looking for these tracks, you have to realize that the "lost media" community and the Dollanganger fandom overlap heavily.
There's a specific tension in her music. It’s the juxtaposition of that sweet, doll-like voice and lyrics about true crime or body horror. That same tension exists in the hunt for her music. It feels like you’re looking for something you aren’t supposed to see.
How to Find These Rare Tracks (Legally and Safely)
If you're desperate for that early lo-fi sound, don't just click on "FREE DOWNLOAD" links from 2016. You'll get a virus before you get a song.
- Check the Fandom Wikis: The Nicole Dollanganger Wiki is surprisingly thorough. They keep a running tally of what is "found" and what is "lost."
- Bandcamp "Fan" Collections: Sometimes people who purchased the music years ago have public collections. You can't always download them, but you might find a stream.
- SoundCloud Archives: Fans often re-upload "lost" tracks there. Search for the specific song names like "Dahmer and the Limbs" (which is actually the one track from Empty Homes that stayed somewhat available).
Honestly, the best way to respect the artist is to support the stuff she has kept up. Curdled Milk and Flowers of Flesh and Blood are still masterpieces of the genre.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans
If you want to help preserve this history or just find the music, here is what you should actually do.
First, go through your own old hardware. Did you have a laptop in 2014? Check the iTunes library. You might be sitting on the only copy of "An Angel Like River Phoenix" left in existence. Second, join the active communities on Reddit or Discord. They are the ones tracking down these files.
Finally, accept that some things are meant to stay in the past. Nicole has evolved. Her 2023 album Married in Mount Airy is a return to those haunting roots but with a much more mature perspective. Sometimes an artist deletes something because they've outgrown the person who wrote it.
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The lost Nicole Dollanganger EP might stay lost, and in a weird way, that only adds to the ghost-story legend of her music.
Pro Tip: If you're new to her discography, start with Natural Born Losers. It’s the most accessible entry point before you start spiraling into the deep-web b-sides.