Although recording music over the Internet has existed since before COVID, the pandemic made such song-making strategies a safer alternative. And while the general improvement of the world has allowed musicians to return to studios or in-person sessions in any setting, it’s nice that developments in technology have allowed for long-distance musical collaboration to flourish.
This brings me to Ghost Plains, a dreampop duo based out of Cardiff consisting of Rich Maskell and Adam Vaughn, and their new EP Fear Patterns. The band’s collaboration began several years ago, with Maskell and Vaughn writing songs in their respective bedrooms and trading ideas back and forth using file-sharing services. This led to a busy 2025, during which they released their debut album, Wild Blue, in May and a non-album single, “Total Silence,” in July.
This leads to Fear Patterns, five songs of dreamy guitar bliss, written in the same online collaborative manner as their other productions. Each new song on the EP sounds tight, filled with as much clarity and warm reverb as your earbuds can handle. Perhaps the band describes their sound best: Their Spotify profile has a public playlist called “Dream Gaze, a mash-up of dream pop and shoegaze. If Ghost Plains needed any genre to define them, that one seems accurate.
Despite the nostalgic sound, the songs hearken to the record’s title, as Maskell and Vaughn sing of big fears, little anxieties, and other related feelings. “Without You”, the duo’s selected single from the EP, captures the feeling of slowly losing a loved one. The lead track “Sweet G” is about getting wasted with friends, utilizing substances to stay connected, and not missing out on the moment.
It’s in these lush soundscapes where Ghost Plains couch their emotions, choosing to wash them in major-key indie anthems. You will lose yourself in the catchy hooks before you realize that the songs are about the kinds of emotions you might want to forget. And perhaps that’s for the best: When anxiety comes knocking, open the door, write a song about it, and then dance until it goes away.
Maskell and Vaughn have begun to amass a following through this strategy, gaining radio play and good press from their collaborations throughout the past year. As 2026 begins, it feels like a good time to jump on the Ghost Plains train. Whether they will continue to create songs over an Internet connection or hit the studio is to be determined, but either way, it will result in good music. Take a listen to “Without You” from Fear Patterns below.
Written by Will Sisskind
