By Therese “Tiki Tee” Sheridan
Hailing from Lake Placid, Florida, Velvet Horizon is an alternative/indie folk artist who has combined his atmospheric sound with Irish rapper and producer, Immute, to create the voted Song of the Month of September, “TRIALS.”
Through a fellow artist by the name Moonlight $ky, someone Velvet Horizon had known since childhood, Velvet Horizon and Immute initially connected over a call and instantly hit it off.
Despite living in different countries, the two artists managed to create a sound that has captured the attention of listeners worldwide. With cinematic energy, dark pop vibes and a touch of nerdcore, “TRIALS” became a must-listen for fans of immersive storytelling and high-intensity music.
When asked about the inspiration behind the winning track, Velvet Horizon shared, “The love for horror, but most of all, the passionate love for ‘The Outlast Trials’ and the ‘Outlast’ series in general.”
Although the track was originally conceived as a tribute to the game developers of “Outlast”, “TRIALS” evolved into a cinematic and layered track touching on broader themes of mental health.
“The lyrics to me show how fast somebody can decline from being mentally stable to a drastic change of being clinically insane or unstable,” explains Immute. “There are many ways of losing the mind, and I think that it is a very popular occurrence for such a thing to happen in today’s standards, which is why I think the lyrics would suit the feeling, especially for these times.”
With its dark pop and nerdcore elements, “TRIALS” has drawn comparisons to Imagine Dragons, a parallel that Immute acknowledges.
“It sounds like an Imagine Dragons-themed song, but with a twist, since it dives into nerdcore, mental health and abstract sounding cadences that complement the instrumental.”
The creative process behind “TRIALS” was both meticulous and chaotic. Velvet Horizon focused on lyrics, vocals and crafting a cinematic feel, while Immute contributed to the lyrics, engineering and additional production elements.
“We avoided doing a lot of digital editing or copy and pasting and spent hours recording multiple upon multiple takes in different voices or different distances to make the crowd effects we had more natural,” Velvet Horizon says.
Creating the track did not come without its hurdles.
“I almost lost the FLP once,” admitted Immute. “I never told Velvet this, because he’s known to lose projects too and he would be like, ‘See!’”
Despite the challenges, both artists agreed that the most rewarding part was hearing the final product and seeing fans’ reactions.
“Showing people who don’t think I can sing this song in particular is such a great feeling when they eat their own expectations,” Velvet Horizon shares.
Meanwhile, Immute found satisfaction in pushing his artistic boundaries beyond rap.
“I’ve never seen myself as a singer, but getting to make something like ‘TRIALS’ is a huge deal to me because I hit some of the notes correctly,” he says.
The response from fans has been overwhelmingly positive, particularly from horror and gaming communities.
“A lot of ‘Outlast’ fans really enjoyed it from the feedback that I’ve gotten,” Immute says.
While “TRIALS” continues to be a successful collaboration between Immute and Velvet Horizon, it wasn’t their first. In fact, their very first collaboration titled, “Lovers to Fighters” was a joke diss track challenge from friends which led to a project titled, “It IZ What It IZ.”
Although Immute and Velvet Horizon could not continue as an official duo, when given the chance, they still enjoy creating tracks such as “TRIALS” together. Looking ahead, both artists are open to future collaborations.
“There will be a rise of ‘It IZ What It IZ’ again, I hope,” Velvet Horizon teases.
“Most Definitely!” Immute echoes.
Those interested in listening to “TRIALS” can listen on all major streaming platforms now.
Congratulations to Velvet Horizon and Immute for their Song of the Month win, and to all the Song of the Stream winners for the month of September!
Want the chance to have your song voted as Song of the Stream or even Song of the Month? Submit to Song Feedback Live!, our music feedback livestream that takes place on YouTube very Tuesday and Saturday at 7 p.m. EST. See you there!
