The Velvet Sundown is an indie rock music group that shot to fame in just a few weeks, with over 1 million people listening to its music on Spotify.
The band says it has four members: Gabe Farrow, Lennie West, Milo Rains, and Orion “Rio” Del Mar. They’ve already released two albums, with a third coming soon.
But for weeks, the strangest thing about The Velvet Sundown was that no one really knew anything about the band — or if it was even real.
The band’s quick release of two albums just 15 days apart made people wonder if the songs were made using AI.
Then more questions followed — was the band itself also made using AI?
There were no interviews, no live shows and no social media accounts for any of the members. The band’s Instagram account was only made a few weeks after the first album was released, and the press photos had a smooth look that many people thought was AI-generated.
What’s more, no one could find the members’ names anywhere except on streaming platforms.
For weeks, the internet questioned whether The Velvet Sundown was real or AI. But now, the band has confirmed it in a message on its Spotify page, saying its music, lyrics, voices and images were all made with help from AI.
The Velvet Sundown is a project that’s meant to make people think about how AI could change music in the future, the band wrote on its Spotify page.
“This isn’t a trick — it’s a mirror,” it said. “Not quite human. Not quite machine. The Velvet Sundown lives somewhere in between.”
