In a little less than a month, a band calling itself the Velvet Sundown has amassed more than 550,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
With two albums — “Floating on Echoes” and “Dust and Silence” — released in rapid succession in June, the group’s sudden rise has been as mystifying as their digital footprint is sparse.
The group’s bio is drenched in dreamlike metaphor, introducing its members as “vocalist and mellotron sorcerer Gabe Farrow,” guitarist Lennie West, bassist-synth alchemist Milo Rains and percussionist Orion “Rio” Del Mar. But no trace of these supposed musicians exists online — not even a modest trail of interviews, performances or social media activity.
That is, until an Instagram account surfaced on June 27, bearing images critics have called “eerily AI-generated.”
Skeptics have raised red flags across music journalism circles.
On Spotify, all songwriting and production credits go solely to the band, a rare practice in today’s collaborative industry. There is no producer. There are no tour dates. There is no record label.
Even a quote in their bio — “they sound like the memory of something you never lived, and somehow make it feel real” — allegedly from Billboard is nowhere to be found in the publication’s archives.
“The Velvet Sundown aren’t trying to revive the past,” the band’s “verified artist” profile reads on Spotify. “They’re rewriting it. They sound like the memory of a time that never actually happened.”
Photos of the band are bathed in amber light and have an almost airbrushed, artificial quality. But what stands out even more is the vacant, lifeless expression on each musician’s face. The image of one long-haired member holding an acoustic guitar — resembling a blend of singer Noah Kahan and “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness — is especially telling: too flawless, too serene, more like a stock photo than a real person.
Though Spotify has yet to comment, it does not require artists to disclose AI involvement.
Meanwhile, Deezer, a music streaming service that flags content it suspects is AI-generated, notes on the Velvet Sundown’s profile on its site that “some tracks on this album may have been created using artificial intelligence.”
The group has reportedly been featured on more than 30 anonymous user playlists and recommended by Spotify’s Discover Weekly algorithm, raising concerns about transparency and artist authenticity.
Music Radar suggests the music bears the “lo-fi veneer of a Suno creation,” referencing a leading AI music platform.
As AI music generation tools like Suno and Udio evolve, industry veterans remain wary.
Australian musician Nick Cave has warned of AI’s “humiliating effect” on artists, while others like Elton John, Coldplay, Dua Lipa, Paul McCartney and Kate Bush have urged legislators to update copyright laws in response to the growing threat posed by AI.