The Velvet Sundown: The band that’s not quite Human, not quite machine.
2/5/202640 min
They were a hot new band and storming up the charts. But something seemed off about Velvet Sundown. Was this the work of AI? When someone behind the band came out denying it, this looked like mystery solved. But this was only the beginning of an internet hoax with many layers.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJosh Dean· Host0:00
[crickets chirping] Campsite Media.
Speaker 10:03
Hello?
Speaker 20:05
What is this?
Kevin Meyman· Guest0:06
So what do you want me to say?
Speaker 20:07
I have a store on here. Like, why- It's just, um, Chameleon.
Speaker 40:11
Chameleon.
Speaker 20:11
Chameleon Weekly. Oh.
Josh Dean· Host0:13
[laughs] [gentle music] In early summer 2025, a new band started to gain traction on Spotify, an indie rock group called The Velvet Sundown, all fuzzy guitars and psych pop harmonies, a bit of a throwback to the '60s or '70s. There were four of them, Gabe Farrow, Lenny West, Milo Raines, and the drummer, Orion Del Mar, who goes by Rio.
Tim Boucher· Guest0:39
Dust on the wind.
Josh Dean· Host0:41
At one point in July, The Velvet Sundown had close to a million monthly listeners on Spotify, and appeared on some big curated playlists. Not unheard of for a new band to get attention like this, only no one seemed to know anything about this band or where they had come from. No one had seen them live. They had no obvious online presence.
Tim Boucher· Guest1:00
Raise your hand. Don't look away.
Josh Dean· Host1:05
Something felt off to the Canadian journalist Kevin Meyman, who works on the daily news desk for the CBC.
Kevin Meyman· Guest1:11
I follow a lot of, like, music blogs and stuff. Like, I'm a musician and kind of a nerd about new music happenings, so I... yeah, I started seeing this Velvet Sundown thing pop up all over the place.
Josh Dean· Host1:24
And it intrigued him.
Kevin Meyman· Guest1:25
You know, I've talked to some music critics about it, and they all say, "This is trash.