''Missing Sounds of New York'' is an album produced by the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

, released on May 1, 2020, through the advertising agency Mother New York. It was recorded during the

COVID-19 pandemic in New York City The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City was confirmed on March 1, 2020, though later research showed that the novel coronavirus had been circulating in New York City since January, with cases of community transmission confirme ...

in 2020, and includes original and archived audio to replicate the sounds of New York City prior to the

lockdowns A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison ...

. The album was met with a positive reception.

Background and recording

During the outbreak of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in early 2020,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

instated a " pause on non-essential services and gatherings" order, which asked its citizens to stay indoors as much as possible and practice

social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...

. This caused the city to effectively shut down outside of essential services, and completely transformed the way the formerly-bustling city sounded. Using a mix of archival and new audio, the latter of which was recorded over 21 days in April 2020, the

produced an eight-track album to catalogue the sounds of New York City that its residents were "missing most". The album, titled ''Missing Sounds of New York'', was released on May 1, 2020, on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

and

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

Critical reception

The album was met with widespread acclaim from both local and national news and the general public. The ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' said the album "takes our city back from the coronavirus". CoolHunting called it "strangely emotional", saying “these sounds will have any city-dweller feeling simultaneously at home and nostalgic”. A ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' article titled "It's Showtime! Press Play to Hear the N.Y.C. That Used to Be" detailed the creation of the album, they profess it "charts the sonic pulse of the city, encompassing a ballgame, a taxi ride and a visit to the library itself". ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' labeled the project a "Soundtrack to a Lost New York". ''

American Libraries ''American Libraries'' is the flagship magazine of the American Library Association (ALA). About ''American Libraries'' was first published in 1970 as a continuation of the long-running ''ALA Bulletin,'' which had served as the Association’s ...

'' magazine called the album "a love letter to NYC, connecting city dwellers to the familiar sounds of urban life that they love and miss". '' Campaign US'' said the album "compiled bustling soundbites which make us yearn for the Big Apple". and had "irreplaceable earhole snippets of the underground rush hour, crowded parks and noisy neighbors". Many felt the record was reminiscent of a time before the city-wide quarantine. ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' said, "Whether or not these sounds are part of what makes you love New York, the playlist is a cozy reminder of your life before the shutdown."

In popular media

New York-based social media star Nicolas Heller (@NewYorkNico) did a remote takeover of The New York Public Library's Instagram account on May 6, 2020, to promote the album and the library as a New York institution under COVID-19.

Trevor Noah Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is a South African-born comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and former television host. He was the host of ''The Daily Show'', an American late-night talk show and satirical news progra ...

featured the album on a segment of ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

'' airing May 13, 2020. Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

featured the album as the evening's "Deep Breath Moment" in his daily COVID-19 update email on May 4, 2020. Spotify featured "To See an Underground Show" featuring Kid the Wiz on numerous playlists.

Track listing

References

{{Authority control New York Public Library 2020 albums