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Mustang Island

by Little Mazarn

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    12" vinyl record in the bone color of the Texas desert

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mustang Island via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
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    Purchasable with gift card

      $22 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mustang Island via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
    ships out within 15 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $20 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Classic Style

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    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.

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1.
Crystal Cave 02:55
Crawling through the crystal cave Long gone, light of the day Don’t be afraid There might be rain but I am here with you Leaving the world in the dead of night My body grows long The passage is tight It’s a secret place in the green belt. Enter as one, leave as something else. Don’t be afraid There might be rain but I am here with you No turning back. Who’s to say we’ll get out alive Silvery rock and dying headlights Don’t be afraid There might be rain but I am here with you
2.
Deep within my heart Lies a melody A song of old San Antone Where in dreams I live With a memory Beneath the stars Moon in all your splendor Knows only my heart Bring back my rose Rose of San Antone! Lips so sweet and tender Like petals fallin apart Speak once again my own Broken song Empty words I know Still live in my heart all alone (And the fall of the empire!) And rose my rose of San Antone
3.
Does the cloud even see the snail? Crushed on the driveway The sadness is in the sound of Having to go that way Does the earth feel the weight of me? The burden of my two feet? The weight of my sorrow? Better tomorrow… Nothing is special Nothing is new I’m riding horses through the drive thru Is it all wasted time? To ride for the feeling? Being young and running around? Not really trying Lost in the current Found on the internet I wish it was memorable
4.
I woke up confused like, what has happened to all my free time? I did a lot of things ceaselessly, endlessly. I made a habit of keeping up and looking cool. I didn’t come here to improve the situation, to solve things, to fix things, to share what’s on my mind, only to celebrate my To absorb and empty out Feel free Bridle my pony without cruelty lead her back to the path when she has strayed, hold her head as we walk, feel her heaving sides, her strength her gait Wonder and wander be untethered with our only connection to our senses and each other even if the path we ride is an endless circle let us trust
5.
Angels smoke cigarettes, Drive Subarus, Have no regrets, Grow hollyhocks, Bless Saturdays, Have their reasons to leave LA. Life in the mountains has its ups and downs I’ll hold your hand no matter what and you can hold my hand no matter what Many arms bright and starry Are holding me always Finding home in my longing I’m a tree I don’t count my own rings And the queso volcano does what it wants You hold my hands no matter what and ill hold your hands no matter what Pecan trees make spiral shapes All over us on that day I called to you and you came to me Peering up through Barton springs It’s such a gift to our city And you are a gift to me I’ll hold your hands no matter what and you can hold my hands no matter what
6.
The sun rises over the sea Tankers on the horizon Dolphins racing the ferry out to mustang island. Mosquitos bite through my shirt The dunes are scrubby and white Bioluminescent at night Out at mustang island The waves are bath water warm The surf is lazy and free It’s the place that I wanna be Out at mustang island
7.
The Gate 02:28
I built a a gate for my grief to go freely, I’m not meant to contain wild horses. I see them run and I feel their hot breath, alive. I can’t pen them in and I can’t let them go. Oh to be among their warm bodies, I cry every day drawing from the infinite well of tears. I see them run and I feel their hot breath, alive. I can’t pen them in and I can’t let them go.
8.
Murmuration 04:44
9.
I've been walkin' in my sleep Countin' troubles 'stead of countin' sheep Where the years went I can't say I just turned around and they've gone away And I've been siftin' through the layers Of dusty books and faded papers They tell a story I used to know It was one that happened so long ago It's gone away in yesterday And I find myself on the mountainside Where the rivers change direction Across the great divide Well I heard the owl calling Softly as the night was falling With a question and I replied But he's gone across the borderline He's gone away in yesterday And I find myself on the mountainside Where the rivers change direction Across the great divide The finest hour that I have seen Is the one that comes between The edge of night and the break of day When the darkness rolls away
10.
Walk with me in the golden hour We can hold each others hands It’s the golden hour I don’t believe it’s over yet It’s the golden hour Flowing like the ocean in the golden hour Feel the crazy wisdom of the golden hour Tell someone you love them it’s the golden hour And my black dogs running in the golden hour And the answers begging questions Of the golden hour Twinkling in my heart light in the golden hour Ghosts and meditations It’s the golden hour And I’m watching for the second arrow in the golden hour And the ever loving mystery Of the golden hour

about

Mustang Island, the third album from Austin-based band Little Mazarn, is a gentle force. Waves of grief crest like surf on the Texas coast. Wild horses break through long-shuttered gates, only to come back around. Lead songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Lindsey Verrill (she/her) joins bandmates Jeff Johnston (he/him) and Carolina Chauffe (they/them). The ten-song collection continues work with Dear Life Records. A full-throated romp through the capabilities of community-minded songcraft, Mustang Island is both naturalistic and futuristic, completely recasting Little Mazarn’s origins in primitive folk. Instead, the band reaches towards sonic experimentation and spacious expansion.

Lindsey’s heart-opening vocals and Jeff’s singing saw, both trademarks of the project, mix with unexpected bombastic drums, dissonant synthesizers, and a chorus of orchestral oddities. This mid-career ode dances confidently in the creative liberties granted by decades in the game – more dazzlingly lively, and honestly somber, than ever before.

The band’s crossroads branch across prominent Southern outsider music: On cello, Lindsey has recorded with Patty Griffin and Dana Falconberry. Jeff has played in Bill Callahan’s band, as well as with Li’l Cap'n Travis and Orange Mothers. Carolina is known for prolific solo project hemlock. Little Mazarn has also collaborated with Lomelda to release their last EP, Honey Island General Store (2023), following past LPs Texas River Song (2022) and Io (2019).

Alongside silliness and reverence, including covers from Kate Wolf and Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, grief directs much of Mustang Island. Lindsey left her job of seventeen years teaching cello at a local school. Recording also aligned with the passing of Jeff’s father, a career educator in Jeff and Lindsey’s hometown of Dallas.

“Grief, and the avoidance of grief, is a big part of being human,” says Lindsey. “You make a choice, and then you grieve for the other choice. Or you finish a meal and literally grieve that it was so good. If you really befriend grief, you’re like, ‘Oh, it’s here, in this pancake, which I loved so much that I ate the whole thing, and now it’s gone.’”

Bio by Rachel Rascoe

credits

released June 20, 2025

Little Mazarn is Carolina Chauffe, Jeff Johnston, and Lindsey Verrill
Also featuring Gary Newcomb, Walter Nichols, Mari Maurice, Nora Predey, Roberto Sanchez, and Sowmya Somanath.
Produced by Little Mazarn and Britton Beisenherz
Recorded and Mixed by Britton Beisenherz at Ramble Creek Studios in Austin, Texas
Mastered by Sarah Register
Cover painting by Lee Barber
Cover Photo by Jake Dapper
All songs by Little Mazarn except ‘New New San Antonio Rose’ based off of the song
‘New San Antonio Rose’ by Bob Wills and ‘The Great Divide’ by Kate Wolf

The band would like to thank Frank, Jon, and Michael at Dear Life Records, our many inspiring friends and supportive community, Casio keyboards, Nora, Sowmya, Walter, Gary, Mari, and Roberto for their beautiful contributions, Matt Kinsey for the lending of instruments, Will Johnson and the Wire Mountain crew for high vibes, Garrett T. Capps for boundless love and support, and very special thanks to all my students that have ever been and most especially to Cameron, Jay, Indigo, and Pia and their families.

In loving memory of Robert Lynn Johnston 1940-2024

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Little Mazarn Austin, Texas

The music of Little Mazarn is a cool float a few feet from the ground through a dimly lit, almost familiar forest. It is quieter than silence, big as everything, still but always moving. If you’ve ever had flying dreams, or an amazing night time bike ride on LSD, this might be a world for you. - Thor Harris ... more

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