diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d1c11ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# 0.1.4
+
+- Improve perfomance by using [parking_lot](https://github.com/Amanieu/parking_lot) instead of OS mutexes. See https://webkit.org/blog/6161/locking-in-webkit/.
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 0d92c46..32d4bf7 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 name = "kittyaudio"
 description = "An audio playback library focusing on simplicity"
 license = "MIT OR BSL-1.0"
-version = "0.1.3"
+version = "0.1.4"
 exclude = ["assets/**"]
 documentation = "https://docs.rs/kittyaudio"
 homepage = "https://github.com/zeozeozeo/kittyaudio"
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ readme = "README.md"
 [dependencies]
 cpal = { version = "0.15.2", optional = true }
 log = "0.4.20"
+parking_lot = "0.12.1"
 serde = { version = "1.0.193", features = ["derive"], optional = true }
 symphonia = { version = "0.5.3", features = ["all"], optional = true }
 thiserror = "1.0.50"
diff --git a/src/backend.rs b/src/backend.rs
index 770ff93..6d2fb5f 100644
--- a/src/backend.rs
+++ b/src/backend.rs
@@ -1,15 +1,10 @@
-use std::sync::Arc;
-use std::sync::Mutex;
-use std::sync::PoisonError;
-use std::time::Duration;
-
-use crate::KaError;
-use crate::Renderer;
-use crate::RendererHandle;
+use crate::{KaError, Renderer, RendererHandle};
 use cpal::{
     traits::{DeviceTrait, HostTrait, StreamTrait},
     FromSample, SampleFormat, SizedSample, StreamConfig,
 };
+use parking_lot::Mutex;
+use std::{sync::Arc, time::Duration};
 
 /// Specifies what device [`cpal`] should use.
 ///
@@ -164,11 +159,7 @@ impl Backend {
     /// Handle all errors in the error queue.
     #[inline]
     pub fn handle_errors(&mut self, err_fn: impl FnMut(cpal::StreamError)) {
-        self.error_queue
-            .lock()
-            .unwrap_or_else(PoisonError::into_inner)
-            .drain(..)
-            .for_each(err_fn)
+        self.error_queue.lock().drain(..).for_each(err_fn)
     }
 
     /// Starts the audio thread.
@@ -260,11 +251,7 @@ impl Backend {
     ) -> bool {
         // check for device disconnection
         let error_queue = self.error_queue.clone();
-        for err in error_queue
-            .lock()
-            .unwrap_or_else(PoisonError::into_inner)
-            .drain(..)
-        {
+        for err in error_queue.lock().drain(..) {
             if matches!(err, cpal::StreamError::DeviceNotAvailable) {
                 return true;
             }
@@ -332,10 +319,7 @@ impl Backend {
             },
             move |err| {
                 // we got an error on stream, push it to the error queue
-                error_queue
-                    .lock()
-                    .unwrap_or_else(PoisonError::into_inner)
-                    .push(err)
+                error_queue.lock().push(err)
             },
             None,
         )?;
diff --git a/src/mixer.rs b/src/mixer.rs
index 303de03..e5734c9 100644
--- a/src/mixer.rs
+++ b/src/mixer.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ use crate::Sound;
 #[cfg(feature = "cpal")]
 use crate::{Backend, Device, StreamSettings};
 
-use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex, MutexGuard, PoisonError};
+use parking_lot::{Mutex, MutexGuard};
+use std::sync::Arc;
 
 /// The audio renderer trait. Can be used to make custom audio renderers.
 pub trait Renderer: Clone + Send + 'static {
@@ -44,8 +45,8 @@ impl Renderer for DefaultRenderer {
         let mut out = Frame::ZERO;
 
         // remove all sounds that finished playback
-        self.sounds.retain_mut(|s| {
-            let mut guard = s.guard();
+        self.sounds.retain_mut(|sound| {
+            let mut guard = sound.guard();
             out += guard.next_frame(sample_rate);
             !guard.finished()
         });
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@ impl<R: Renderer> RendererHandle<R> {
     /// Get a lock on the underlying renderer.
     #[inline(always)]
     pub fn guard(&self) -> MutexGuard<'_, R> {
-        self.0.lock().unwrap_or_else(PoisonError::into_inner)
+        self.0.lock()
     }
 }
 
@@ -108,7 +109,7 @@ impl Mixer {
     #[cfg(feature = "cpal")]
     #[inline(always)]
     pub fn backend(&self) -> MutexGuard<'_, Backend> {
-        self.backend.lock().unwrap_or_else(PoisonError::into_inner)
+        self.backend.lock()
     }
 
     /// Play a [`Sound`].
@@ -149,7 +150,6 @@ impl Mixer {
             // TODO: handle errors from `start_audio_thread`
             let _ = backend
                 .lock()
-                .unwrap_or_else(PoisonError::into_inner)
                 .start_audio_thread(device, settings, renderer);
         });
     }
diff --git a/src/sound.rs b/src/sound.rs
index 8d2810e..e2903ee 100644
--- a/src/sound.rs
+++ b/src/sound.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 use crate::{lerp_f64, Change, Command, Parameter, Resampler, Tweenable};
+use parking_lot::{Mutex, MutexGuard};
 use std::ops::{Add, Div, DivAssign, Mul, MulAssign, Neg, Sub, SubAssign};
 use std::ops::{AddAssign, RangeInclusive};
-use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex, MutexGuard, PoisonError};
+use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::time::Duration;
 
 #[cfg(feature = "symphonia")]
@@ -829,7 +830,7 @@ impl SoundHandle {
     /// Get a lock on the underlying [`Sound`].
     #[inline]
     pub fn guard(&self) -> MutexGuard<'_, Sound> {
-        self.0.lock().unwrap_or_else(PoisonError::into_inner)
+        self.0.lock()
     }
 
     /// Return the sample rate of the sound.