Austin’s beloved genre-untethered trio Little Mazarn has just released their shimmering new album ‘Mustang Island,’ out now via Dear Life Records (home to MJ Lenderman, Fust, and other heart-forward sound sculptors).
The record is a spacious, soft-spoken, soul-stirring journey—part haunted folk tale, part cosmic lullaby—that expands the band’s sonic terrain without losing the peculiar intimacy they’ve been known for. You can dive into the title track’s video now if you missed it floating through the ether.
A Little Background on Little Mazarn
Little Mazarn began in 2015 as a minimalist duo—Lindsey Verrill (banjo/vocals) and Jeff Johnston (singing saw)—and have grown into a rich, multi-generational trio with the addition of Carolina Chauffe, whose layered harmonies bring a spectral glow to ‘Mustang Island’. The band draws on deep Texas roots and wide-open experimental instincts, mixing the old with the utterly unexpected: bowed banjo, stylophones, synthesizers, thrift-store Casios, and flutes.
What’s ‘Mustang Island’ All About?
At its core, ‘Mustang Island’ is about grief, consciousness, horses, and letting go. Lindsey calls it her “mid-career ode,” and you can feel the confidence in the record’s playful risks. It’s lush but stripped, earthy yet celestial. Songs like The Gate and The Cloud and the Snail sit with loss in a way that’s gentle and wise, leaning into it rather than pushing it away. There’s an ambient weight to this album—anchored in the physical, but always floating toward the metaphysical.
And yes, there are literal horses. Lindsey, who helps care for visual art icon Jad Fair’s real-life horses, threads these creatures through the entire record. On The Gate, she sings: “I built a gate for my grief to go freely / I’m not meant to contain wild horses.” That lyric alone could crack open your chest.
Sound-wise?
It’s not the Little Mazarn you might expect. Sure, Lindsey’s banjo and Jeff’s signature saw are still here, but ‘Mustang Island’ breaks the mold. Synths drone, drums explode, flutes flutter. There are moments that echo The Beach Boys, others that channel minimalist ambient meditations, and still more that feel like Southern gothic pop spells. The only rule? No guitars.
Songs were sketched, shaped, and recorded at Ramble Creek Studios in South Austin, where the band welcomed a cast of collaborators, including former cello students of Lindsey’s and a rotating group of underground heavy-hitters. One of the highlights? The Golden Hour, a swan song of sorts to Lindsey’s 17-year run teaching music, where four of her students joined in to lift the track skyward.
Grief, Queso, and the Great Divide
For all its heaviness, ‘Mustang Island’ is playful too. The record swirls with strange joy—queso volcanos, childhood horseback rides to Dairy Queen, and cover songs that feel like loving nods to musical ghosts. There’s a version of Kate Wolf’s Across the Great Divide that stakes the band’s spiritual location clearly: right where rivers split, emotions converge, and sound is allowed to run wild.
Catch Them Live
Little Mazarn is hitting the road for a string of intimate shows this summer, including house concerts, indie bookstores, chapels, and cozy Northeast hideouts. These shows are the perfect setting to soak in the tenderness and raw beauty of ‘Mustang Island’.
Tour dates below, with more TBA:
- 06.26 – Wassiac, NY @ Gridley Chapel
- 06.27 – Turners Falls, MA @ Unnameable Books
- 06.28 – North Adams, MA @ Tourists
- 06.29 – New York, NY @ Berlin
- 06.30 – Portland, ME @ House Show
- 07.01 – Gardiner, ME @ Johnson Hall Opera House
- 07.02 – Mohegan Island, ME @ House Show
- 07.03 – Peaks Island, ME @ House Show
- 07.05 – Burlington, VT @ Radio Bean
‘Mustang Island’ is a quiet revolution—personal, communal, fearless, and full of feeling. Whether you need a good cry, a good float, or a bit of both, this one’s for you.
Listen now on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever your ears like to roam.
Let the wild horses run.
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